Impact of qualitative endoscopic ultrasonography on fatty pancreas at a referral medical center.

backgroundTaking advantage of the current advances in diagnostic imaging modalities, including endoscopic ultrasonography (EUS), and due to the increased attention to ectopic fat accumulation in the pancreas following the rising trend of metabolic syndrome, we qualitatively assessed the clinical implication of pancreatic steatosis by EUS in this study.

methodsThe study included 243 patients that were divided into four groups. The correlation between the average echogenicity of the pancreas and that of the control organs and the key clinical data of all study patients were collectively analyzed. The cut-off point of the pancreas-control (PC) ratio in EUS and liver-control (LC) ratio on abdominal ultrasound were determined from the population distribution and the obtained median values.

resultsWith the cut-off point of 1.30 for the PC ratio and 1.20 for the LC ratio, sex, the Brinkman index, habitual alcohol drinkers, and fatty pancreas were significant factors. The associations between each relevant factor in fatty pancreas, metabolic syndrome in the fatty liver group, and age in the pancreatic cancer group were all significant in the analysis. In addition, we investigated whether the PC ratio differed according to age and staging in pancreatic cancer patients. Interestingly, the PC ratio was lower in the advanced stage group than in the early-stage group.

conclusionOur results suggest that, irrespective of the degree, ectopic fat infiltration in the pancreas could be a specific clinical phenotype of serious pancreatic diseases, including pancreatic cancer, especially in high-risk patients.