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. 1988 Dec;29(12):1736–1740. doi: 10.1136/gut.29.12.1736

Pancreatic function testing: serum PABA measurement is a reliable and accurate measurement of exocrine function.

A R Tanner 1, D P Robinson 1
PMCID: PMC1434113  PMID: 3265404

Abstract

A comparison between the NBT-PABA/14C-PABA test (NBT-PABA, n-benzoyl-tyrosyl para-aminobenzoic acid) using the PABA excretion index (PEI) and serum PABA estimation at 90 minutes has been made in 42 consecutive subjects attending for investigation of possible pancreatic disease to a District General Hospital (DGH). The PEI was unobtainable or incorrect on 38% of occasions compared with 9% for the serum test. Sensitivity, specificity, and efficiency for the PEI (n = 33 valid results) were 71%, 88%, and 79% respectively and for the serum PABA (n = 41 valid results), 95%, 90%, and 93% respectively. These results confirm that measurement of serum PABA is a simpler, more reliable, and a more accurate method of assessing pancreatic function.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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