Pancreatic Steatosis Is Associated with Both Metabolic Syndrome and Pancreatic Stiffness Detected by Ultrasound Elastography.

Introduction: There is increasing evidence that pancreatic steatosis (PS) is associated with metabolic syndrome (MS). However, it is not known whether it is associated with PS grade and pancreatic stiffness, or not. We aimed to evaluate the relationship between PS and its grade detected by transabdominal ultrasound, and pancreatic stiffness determined by two-dimensional shearwave elastography (2D-SWE), whether it has clinical significance and its relationship with MS.
Methods: Patients with and without PS were evaluated prospectively.
Results: Patients with PS had higher odds ratio for MS (OR 5.49). Also, ultrasonographic grade of PS was associated with MS parameters and hepatosteatosis. Pancreatic SWE value was significantly higher in PS group and positively correlated with PS grade, liver fat, MS, number of MS criteria.
Discussion/conclusion: PS and its grade were associated with MS. In this first comprehensive PS-SWE study, we found that pancreas stiffness increased in the presence of PS, in correlation with PS grade and MS.
(© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC part of Springer Nature.)