Retrospective evaluation of epidemiology, laboratory findings and related diseases in patients with mesenteric panniculitis, diagnosed by computerzed tomography

Objectives: In our study, we aimed to determine the frequency of patients diagnosed with mesenteric panniculitis (MP) with computed tomography in Karadeniz Technical University, Faculty of Medicine, Farabi Hospital, to examine the laboratory parameters and related chronic diseases, especially malignancies and to evaluate the importance of radiological findings in the diagnosis of MP. Material and Method: In this retrospective cross-sectional study, 1223 patients with MP were detected by scanning all computerized abdominal tomography images between January 1, 2015 - December 31, 2018 by using automation system of Farabi Hospital. The diagnosis of MP was reviewed according to the established radiological diagnostic criteria in all patients. The demographic characteristics of the patients, laboratory tests and tomographic characteristics were analyzed. Patients were divided into 2 main groups, with known malignancy (group-1) and without (group-2) at the time of diagnosis. Results: After the reassessment of reviewed tomography images and due to the exclusion criteria, 716 MP patients were included to the study (MP frequency: 1.09 %). In admission, the number of cases with history of malignancy was 354 (49.4%) (group-1); breast carcinoma, gynecological and colorectal cancers were the most common malignancies and a history of gynecological surgery was found in 33.5% of cases with malignancy. The mean age was statistically significant higher in group-1 (59.49 ± 11.389 and 52.88 ± 15.503 respectively, p<0,001). In terms of tomographic findings; "pseudocapsule" was seen statistically significantly more frequent in group-1 compared to group-2, and "hyperdensity at the surrounding abdominal adipose tissue" was seen statistically significantly more frequent in group-2 compared to group-1 (respectively p = 0.011 and p = 0.004). Conclusion: According to the data, MP is a rare finding in the community (1.09 %), but has a high potential to be related with malignancies (49.4 %). In cases with MP; breast cancer, gynecological cancers, colorectal cancer and lymphoma are frequently detected, compared to other malignancies. Especially in patients over the age of 60, malignancy risk increases in the presence of alarm symptoms such as anemia, leukopenia or high sedimentation rate. In terms of tomographic findings, "pseudocapsule" is more common in patients with malignancy. In patients with MP is detected incidentally and without any history of malignancy, the clinician and radiologist should be careful in terms of possible malignancy and cancer screening tests should be performed to all this group of patients. Key Words: Mesenteric panniculitis, computerized tomography, malignancy.