Quantitative analysis of pancreatic echogenicity on transabdominal sonography: correlations with metabolic syndrome.

Purpose: To attempt a quantitative analysis of pancreatic echogenicity on transabdominal ultrasonography (US) and evaluate the correlation between pancreatic echogenicity and metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated transabdominal sonograms from 286 subjects. Mean pancreatic body brightness, mean perihepatic fat brightness, and the pancreato-perihepatic fat index (PPHFI) were measured, and reproducibility was analyzed using intraclass correlation coefficients.