We used samples of duodenal juice from our biobank, collected through a short endoscopic secretin test in patients with suspected exocrine pancreas insufficiency.
We searched PubMed, Embase, and reference lists for articles through November 2016 describing studies that compared fecal level of elastase-1 with results from a reference standard, direct method (secretin stimulation test), or indirect method (measurement of fecal fat) for detection of EPI.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with secretin stimulation promises to allow non-invasive testing for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency but normal data do not exist for children.
CF patients with EPI had lower apparent diffusion coefficient before secretin in the pancreatic head (P < 0.001) and lower secreted bowel fluid volumes (P = 0.035) compared to HC and CF patients without EPI.