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Author: Michael Hunt, MD Educational Pearls: Alcohol and gallstones are most common causes of pancreatitis Diagnosis is not simply based on lipase alone - must have at least two the the three criteria: Elevated lipase (greater than 3x upper limit of reference range) Typical pain (epigastric pain, radiating to back, etc.) Radiographic findings suggestive of pancreatitis (CT, MRI, US) BISAP criteria can help risk stratify mortality in pancreatitis. You get 1 point for each of the following: BNP > 25 Impaired mental status SIRS criteria, more than 2 AGE > 60 Pleural effusion BISAP score of 0 has Editor's note: The severity of pancreatitis does not correlate with serum lipase levels - notice how it is not used in the BISAP criteria, as an example. Even a mild elevation in serum testing can result in severe pancreatitis. References: Banks PA, Bollen TL, Dervenis C, Gooszen HG, Johnson CD, Sarr MG, Tsiotos GG, Vege SS; Acute Pancreatitis Classification Working Group.. Classification of acute pancreatitis--2012: revision of the Atlanta classification and definitions by international consensus. Gut. 2013 Jan;62(1):102-11. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2012-302779. Epub 2012 Oct 25. PubMed PMID: 23100216. Papachristou GI, Muddana V, Yadav D, O'Connell M, Sanders MK, Slivka A, Whitcomb DC. Comparison of BISAP, Ranson's, APACHE-II, and CTSI scores in predicting organ failure, complications, and mortality in acute pancreatitis. Am J Gastroenterol. 2010 Feb;105(2):435-41; quiz 442. doi: 10.1038/ajg.2009.622. Epub 2009 Oct 27. PubMed PMID: 19861954. Wu BU, Johannes RS, Sun X, Tabak Y, Conwell DL, Banks PA. The early prediction of mortality in acute pancreatitis: a large population-based study. Gut. 2008 Dec;57(12):1698-703. doi: 10.1136/gut.2008.152702. Epub 2008 Jun 2. PubMed PMID: 18519429.