Abstract
AIM: To identify the associated risk factors for hyperechogenic pancreas (HP) which may be observed on endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and to assess the relationship between HP and obesity. METHODS: From January 2007 to December 2007, we prospectively enrolled 524 consecutive adults who were scheduled to undergo EUS. Patients with a history of pancreatic disease or with hepatobiliary or advanced gastrointestinal cancer were excluded. Finally, 284 patients were included in the analyses. We further analyzed the risk of HP according to the categories of visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue in 132 patients who underwent abdominal computed tomography scans. RESULTS: On univariate analysis, age older than 60 years, obesity (body mass index > 25 kg/m(2)), fatty liver, diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia were identified as risk factors associated with HP (P < 0.05). On multivariate analysis, fatty liver [P = 0.008, odds ratio (OR) = 2.219], male gender (P = 0.013, OR = 2.636), age older than 60 years (P = 0.001, OR = 2.874) and hypertension (P = 0.044, OR = 2.037) were significantly associated with HP. In the subgroup analysis, VAT was a statistically significant risk factor for HP (P = 0.010, OR = 5.665, lowest quartile vs highest quartile). CONCLUSION: HP observed on EUS was associated with fatty liver, male gender, age older than 60 years, hypertension and VAT.