PANCREATIC STEATOSIS AND ITS ASSOCIATION WITH NONALCOHOLIC FATTY LIVER DISEASE EVALUATED BY ULTRASONOGRAPHY

Abstract

Introduction: Pancreatic steatosis (PS) is the fatty replacement of pancreatic parenchyma, being often associated with obesity and aging. Similar to this condition in pancreas, any excessive lipidic deposition in the liver tissue are referred to as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). Objective: The objective of this study was to explore associations between PS and the NAFLD grade, as evaluated by ultrasonography. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study. Diagnosis of the PS and NAFLD was based on ultrasound findings, and 576 ultrasonography exams were evaluated. The chi-square test was used for evaluation of the relationship between PS and NAFLD. Results: A total of 576 individuals were included, 217 (or 37.7%) were male and 359 (or 62.3%) were female. The median age of the patients was 47.04 (11.8) years-old (mean ± standard error). Among them, 243 were diagnosed with PS and 245 were diagnosed with NAFLD according to the trans-abdominal ultrasound findings. There was an association between male sex and PS (P 0.012), and between female sex and NAFLD (P 0.0001). As compared to the normal group, the PS and NAFLD group was characterized by a significantly higher median age. There was also a statistically significant association between the degree of PS and the degree of NAFLD, with the following characteristics: mild PS and mild NAFLD (P 0.0001), moderate PS and moderate and severe NAFLD (P 0.0001) and between severe PS and moderate and severe NAFLD (P 0.0001). Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that fat accumulation in pancreas is significantly correlated to NAFLD. It was also shown that the ultrasound is very resourceful when it comes evaluation of fat grade.