Hyperamylasemia Caused by the Hantaan Virus: A Retrospective Study of 101 Patients with Hemorrhagic Fever with Renal Syndrome in West China

BACKGROUND: Hyperamylasemia (HA) is an inconspicuous manifestation of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS) in Baoji city, West China. Hantaan virus (HTNV) is the only pathogen-caused HFRS in this region, but the knowledge about HA in the local HFRS patients has been limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the characteristics of HA and its predictive risk factors for doctors to engage in timely monitoring and dealing with the possible serious changes prewarned by HA in the early stages of the disease to improve the final outcome. METHODS: All HFRS patients with and without HA (HA and nHA groups, respectively) were treated in Baoji People's Hospital. The clinical characteristics between the two groups were compared by Student's t-test or Chi-square test. The risk factors for prognosis were measured by the logistic regression analysis. The predictive effects of prognosis in clinical and laboratory parameters were analyzed by the receiver operating characteristic curves. RESULTS: 46.53% of the patients demonstrated HA, among which 71.7% were severe and critical types of HFRS, greater than that in the nHA group (19.57%, P < 0.001). The hospitalization day and the general incidence of acute pancreatitis (AP) were longer or greater in the HA group than in the nHA group (P < 0.01). Age and the time from the onset of the first symptom to the patient being admitted to hospital (T(OA)) were the predictive risk factors for HA. The best cut-off values were the age of 54 years and T(OA) of 5.5 days. CONCLUSION: HTNV-induced HA is a common clinical presentation of HFRS patients in West China. It can increase the severity, the hospitalization days of patients, and the incidence of AP in HFRS. Age and T(OA) constituted independent risk factors for HA caused by HTNV.