Computed tomography evaluation of pancreatic steatosis: correlation with COVID-19 prognosis

Tweetable abstract In COVID-19 patients, the patients with fatty pancreas assessed using computed tomography have a more severe clinical course, higher rates of hospitalization/ICU requirement and increased length of hospitalization compared with the patients without fatty pancreas. #COVID-19 #computed tomography #fatty pancreas. Aim: To investigate the relationship between pancreatic steatosis (PS) assessed on computed tomography (CT) and COVID-19 prognosis. Materials & methods: This retrospective study covers 396 patients with COVID-19 (mean age: 52.50 +/- 16.86 years), who underwent unenhanced chest CT. PS was compared with clinical findings, comorbidities, requirements for hospitalization, intubation and intensive care unit (ICU), length of hospitalization and death. Results: PS was found to be strongly correlated with the severity of clinical findings and hospitalization rates (p < 0.001). In hospitalized patients, length of hospitalization (p = 0.002) and rates of ICU requirement (p = 0.003) were higher in patients with PS. Conclusion: PS, correlated with clinical severity and hospitalization requirement, is an independent risk factor for COVID-19. Plain language summary Fat accumulation in the pancreas that is associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome can be used for estimating the clinical course of patients with COVID-19. Fat accumulation was determined by comparing the pancreas and spleen using computed tomography tools. In our study with 396 COVID-19 patients, the patients with fatty pancreas clearly seemed to have more severe clinical findings. Similarly, the rates of the requirement for hospitalization/intensive care unit and length of hospitalization were higher than in patients without fatty pancreas. The median length of hospitalization was 9 days in patients with fatty pancreas and 6 days in patients without fatty pancreas. However, death rates were only slightly higher in patients with fatty pancreas.