Atlanta, revised Atlanta, and Determinant-based classification--application in a cohort of Portuguese patients with acute pancreatitis.

Background: Acute pancreatitis (AP) represents a complex and potentially fatal disease with a highly variable clinical course. Three classification systems for assessing the severity in AP have been validated for clinical use.

Aims: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the performance of the Atlanta and Determinant-based classifications in predicting severe clinical outcomes in patients with AP.

Methods: In this retrospective study we reviewed the treatment and follow-up records of 525 patients with AP admitted to our unit between the years of 2003 and 2014. Outcomes included mortality, admission to the ICU, need for interventional procedures or nutritional support, and duration of hospital and ICU stay.

Results: The prevalence of organ failure and persistent organ failure in our cohort was 23.0 and 10.7%, respectively, and the mortality rate was 5.9%. Higher grades of severity were associated with worse outcomes in all classification systems. The revised Atlanta and Determinant-based classifications performed similarly in predicting outcomes, and both proved to be superior to the former classic Atlanta classification.

Conclusion: Recent classifications proved to be more accurate in predicting important clinical outcomes in patients with AP.