Obesity correlates with early hyperglycemia in patients with acute pancreatitis who developed organ failure.

OBJECTIVE

Early hyperglycemia in acute pancreatitis (AP) is a prognostic sign of severe attack. Obesity, another risk factor for severe AP, is associated with impaired glucose regulation. We hypothesized that obesity is related to early hyperglycemia in patients with severe AP.

METHODS

Forty-four patients with severe AP with organ failure and 127 control patients with AP (33 severe AP and 94 mild AP) but without organ failure were studied. Plasma glucose and patients' height and weight for calculation of body mass index (BMI) were measured at admission.

RESULTS

Body mass index was higher in organ failure patients than in controls (median, 27.0 kg/m2 [interquartile range, 24.9-30.4 kg/m2] vs 25.2 kg/m2 [interquartile range, 23.3-27.9 kg/m2; P = 0.007). Glucose level correlated with BMI in organ failure patients (r = 0.463, P = 0.002) but not in controls (r = 0.096, P = 0.28). Eight (18%) organ failure patients and 7 (5.5%) controls had prior type 2 diabetes (P = 0.025). In a logistic regression model, admission glucose level was the only independent predictor of organ failure.

CONCLUSIONS

Obesity may contribute to early hyperglycemia in patients with AP. Multivariate analysis indicated that obesity is not an independent risk factor for organ failure, but it correlates with early hyperglycemia, which may predispose to systemic complications in AP.