Aims and objectives
Obesity,
defined as a body mass index (BMI) exceeding 30 kg/m2,
is a very serious health problem,
which is growing to the role of epidemics on a global scale and is one of the most important causes of death that can be prevented.
The aim of the study was to assess the ectopic fat accumulation in the pancreas,
liver and skeletal muscle in patients with obesity,
overweight and normal BMI in correlation with the presence of visceral obesity and metabolic syndrome.
Methods and materials
The study included 267 consecutive patients who were referred to abdominal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and underwent a standard clinical assessment,
physical examination and laboratory tests.
BMI was calculated by dividing the weight in kilograms by the square of the height in metres.
Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the criteria modified by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III Guidelines.
Central obesity was defined using the ethnic specific values for waist circumference in Europe which is ≥ 80 cm for women and...
Results
There was a statistically significant,
moderately positive correlation between the degree of steatosis of the assessed organs and the BMI value as well as the expressed in percentages variable (waist circumference ratio,
WCR) that determined the degree of central obesity.
Analysing the WCR values,
it was found that the muscles develop fat accumulation as the first organ,
the pancreas as the second,
and the liver as the last one.
Higher steatosis of the pancreas was demonstrated depending on the number of metabolic syndrome criteria were...
Conclusion
Knowing that pancreatic fatty disease is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome,
it seems that the assessment of the ectopic fat accumulation may have important clinical implications and by monitoring the steatosis level (fat fraction),
may be used to predict metabolic risk and its early prevention or therapeutic intervention.
References
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OECD.
OECD obesity update.
2017.
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2.
World Health Organization.
Obesity and overweight.
2017.
Available fromhttp://www.who.int
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