Does the visceral fat tissue show better correlation with the fatty replacement of the pancreas than with BMI?

Abstract

Abstract

Objective: Obesity is a risk factor of fatty replacement of the pancreas. We aimed to investigate whether there is a better correlation between the visceral fat tissue and the fatty infiltration of the pancreas than with the BMI.

Materials and Methods: One hundred-eighteen patients were visually divided into three groups according to the pattern of the fatty infiltration of the pancreas. Group 0 (n=70) has no fatty infiltration, Group 1 (n=23) has fatty infiltration on the head only, and Group 2 (n=25) has fatty infiltration on the entire pancreas. Additionally, the attenuation numbers (HU) were measured separately at the head, body and tail of the pancreas on contrast-enhanced Computed Tomography CT. The sum of the attenuation number of each part of the pancreas was calculated as the attenuation number of the pancreas. A CT-scan was used to calculate the visceral fat area (cm2). Correlation coefficients were determined between the visceral fat area and fatty infiltration of the pancreas and the BMI.

Results: The visceral fat area showed a stronger correlation with the attenuation number of the pancreas than the BMI (r=-0.552, r=-0.345 and p=0.0001, p=0.0001, respectively). The diff erence existed between the Groups 0 and 1 (p=0.0001) or Groups 0 and 2 (p=0.0001) in terms of visceral fat area. The diff erence existed only between Group 0 and Group 2 in terms of BMI (p=0.006).

Conclusions: The visceral fat tissue area has a stronger correlation than the BMI in the fatty infiltration of the pancreas.