Correlation between obesity and hyperglycemia in acute pancreatitis with systemic complications: the third variable problem.

摘要

Obesity is one of the recognized risk factors of the complicated course of acute pancreatitis, exact mechanism of which, though, is unclear. With respect to this issue, the study by Mentula et al, published in the January issue of the Pancreas, aimed to elucidate the role of glucose homeostasis in this obscure relationship and showed that body mass index (BMI) correlated with hyperglycemia on admission in patients with acute pancreatitis who developed either respiratory or renal failure. Furthermore, the authors recommended "the use of admission glucose in addition to BMI in prognostic evaluation of patients with acute pancreatitis."