Key result
Increased visceral fat area and visceral to total fat area ratio were positively correlated with clinical severity scores, but not with the development of local or systemic complications.
Why the study?
Obesity is a risk factor for acute pancreatitis and visceral fat increases proinflammatory environment, but the correlation between CT-measured abdominal fat distribution and severity of acute pancreatitis needed investigation.
Does abdominal fat distribution measured by CT correlate with the severity of acute pancreatitis?
Observational (n=174)
No
Does abdominal fat distribution measured by CT correlate with the severity of acute pancreatitis?
Increased visceral fat area and visceral-to-total fat ratio on CT are associated with higher clinical severity scores in acute pancreatitis.
AIM OF THE STUDY: Obesity is a well-determined risk factor for acute pancreatitis. Increased visceral fat has been shown to increase the proinflammatory environment experienced by patients. In this study, we aimed to research the correlation between abdominal fat distribution parameters measured with computed tomography (CT) and severity of acute pancreatitis (AP). MATERIAL AND METHODS: The study included patients monitored due to AP in the internal medicine clinic of GOP Education and Research Hospital from January 2015 to December 2018. The Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) score, the Imrie score and the Bedside Index of Severity in Acute Pancreatitis (BISAP) scores were calculated. Advanced image processing analysis software (INFINIT Xelis, v 1.0.6.3) was used to calculate individual abdominal fat distribution parameters from CT screening with division of abdominal tissues. Measurements were performed from -50 to -250 Hounsfield units (HU) between vertebrae L2-L3. CONCLUSIONS: In patients with AP diagnosis and abdominal CT scans, increased VFA and VTR ratio were found to be associated with increased AP clinical scores with no significant correlation identified in terms of local/systemic complication development. Our study shows that VFA is linked to AP clinical scoring systems and should be included in AP predictive scoring systems.
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Beydogan et al. (2021) conducted an observational in Acute pancreatitis (n=174). Abdominal fat distribution (visceral fat area and visceral to total fat ratio) vs. Lower abdominal fat distribution was evaluated on Correlation between visceral fat area (VFA) and APACHE score (r = 0.256, p=<0.001). Increased visceral fat area and visceral to total fat area ratio were positively correlated with clinical severity scores, but not with the development of local or systemic complications.
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