The Association of Body Composition Parameters and Laboratory Markers With The Severity of Hypertriglyceridemia-Induced Pancreatitis

Background: Hypertriglyceridemia has arisen as the third leading cause of acute pancreatitis. This study aimed at exploring the association between the severity of hypertriglyceridemia-induced pancreatitis (HTGP) and computed tomography (CT)-based body composition parameters and laboratory markers. Methods: : Clinical parameters were collected from 242 patients with HTGP between 2017 and 2020. Severity of HTGP was evaluated by original or modified CT severity index. Body composition parameters such as area and radiodensity of muscle, subcutaneous adipose tissue and visceral adipose tissue were calculated by CT at the third lumbar vertebra level. Parameters between mild and moderately severe to severe HTGP were compared. Uni-variate and multi-variate Logistic regression analyses were employed to assess the risk factors of the severity of HTGP. Results: : Seventy patients with HTGP (28.9%) were mild. Body mass index, waist circumference and all CT-based body composition parameters differed between male and female patients. None was associated with the severity of HTGP, neither in the male nor in the female. Uni-variate and multi-variate Logistic regression analysis showed that low serum albumin (90 mg/L) were risk factors of moderately severe to severe HTGP ( P <0.001, OR=4.846, 95%CI=2.122-11.068; P <0.001, OR=4.230, 95%CI=2.050-8.727, respectively). Low serum albumin was also associated with pancreatic necrosis, longer hospital stay and higher scores of APACHE II, Ranson and Marshall in HTGP patients (all P <0.05). Conclusions: : Low serum albumin and high C-reactive protein upon admission are associated with the severity of HTGP. However, none of the body composition parameters is associated with the severity of HTGP.