Yes! Although an elevated serum lipase has a negative predictive value of 94%-100% for acute pancreatitis (1), there are ample reports in the literature of patients with CT findings of pancreatitis in the presence of abdominal symptoms but with normal serum lipase and/or amylase (2,3).
A case series and review of literature of acute pancreatitis with normal lipase and amylase failed to reveal any specific risk factors for such observation (2). More specifically, the etiologies of acute pancreatitis in the reported cases have varied, including drug-induced, cholelithiasis, alcohol, hypertriglyceridemia, and postoperative causes.
But what accounts for this phenomenon? Many cases have been associated with the first bout of pancreatitis without evidence of pancreatic calcifications which makes the possibility of a “burned-out” pancreas without sufficient acinar cells to release lipase as a frequent cause unlikely. Other potential explanations for normal lipase in acute pancreatitis have included measurement of serum lipase at a very early phase of the disease before significant destruction of acinar cells has occurred (increases in 3-6 h, peaks at 24 h [4]) and more rapid renal clearance of serum lipase due to tubular dysfunction (2).
Of note, unlike amylase, lipase is totally reabsorbed by renal tubules under normal conditions (5). Thus, it’s conceivable that even a reversible tubular dysfunction may lead to increased clearance of serum lipase and potentially lower its levels.
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References
1. Ko K, Tello LC, Salt J. Acute pancreatitis with normal amylase and lipase. The Medicine Forum. 2011;11 Article 4. https://jdc.jefferson.edu/tmf/vol11/iss1/4/
2. Singh A, Shrestha M. Acute pancreatitis with normal amylase and lipase-an ED dilemma. Am J Emerg Med 2016;940.e5-940.e7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26521195
3. Limon O, Sahin E, Kantar FU, et al. A rare entity in ED: normal lipase level in acute pancreatitis. Turk J Emerg Med 2016;16:32-34. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4882216/
4. Shah AM, Eddi R, Kothari ST, et al. Acute pancreatitis with normal serum lipase: a case series. J Pancreas (Online) 2010 July 5;11:369-72. PDF
5. Lott JA, Lu CJ. Lipase isoforms and amylase isoenzymes: assays and application in the diagnosis of acute pancreatitis. Clin Chem 1991;37:361-68. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1706232
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