Background The goal of our study was to evaluate the current approach in prediction of postoperative major complications after pancreaticoduodenectomy (PD), especially symptomatic pancreatic fistula (POPF), using parameters derived from computed tomography (CT). Methods Patients after PD were prospectively collected in a database of the local department of surgery and all patients with CT scans available were assessed in this study. CT parameters were measured at the level of the intervertebral disc L3/L4 and consisted of the areas of the visceral adipose tissue (A VAT ), the diameters of the pancreatic parenchyma (DPP) and the pancreatic duct (DPD), the areas of ventral abdominal wall muscle (A MVEN ), psoas muscle (A MPSO ), paraspinal muscle (A MSPI ), total muscle (A MTOT ), as well as the mean muscle attenuation (MA) and skeletal muscle index (SMI). Mann-Whitney-U Test for two independent samples and binary logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. Results One hundred thirty-nine patients (55 females, 84 males) were included. DPD was 2.9 mm (Range 0.7–10.7) on median and more narrow in patients with complications equal to or greater stadium IIIb ( p < 0.04) and severe POPF ( p < 0.01). DPP median value was 17 (6.9–37.9) mm and there was no significant difference regarding major complications or POPF. A VAT showed a median value of 127.5 (14.5–473.0) cm 2 and was significantly larger in patients with POPF ( p < 0.01), but not in cases of major complications ( p < 0.06). A MPSO , A MSPI , A MVEN and A MTOT showed no significant differences between major complications and POPF. MA was both lower in groups with major complications ( p < 0.01) and POPF ( p < 0.01). SMI failed to differentiate between patients with or without major complications or POPF. Conclusion Besides the known factors visceral obesity and narrowness of the pancreatic duct, the mean muscle attenuation can easily be examined on routine preoperative CT scans and seems to be promising parameter to predict postoperative complications and POPF.

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The results of the determination of hematologic values from 262 men and 242 women, participants of an aging study and half of each group 44.4 +/- 0.9 and 63.0 +/- 0.9 (men) and 44.4 +/- 0.9 and 62.8 +/- 0.8 years old (women), respectively, are compared. In men, one analyte (hemoglobin decreasing) and four indices show significant differences (MCV increasing, MCH decreasing, MCHC decreasing, RDW increasing). In the older group, the iron level and the transferrin saturation are also significantly lower. In women, erythrocytes and the hematocrit are significantly higher in the older group whereas the indices MCH and MCHC are lower and the RDW increases. At the same time, the iron level, transferrin and the transferrin saturation decrease whereas ferritin doubles. The sex differences of the hematologic parameters are more pronounced in the younger participants and especially remarkable in ferritin in both age groups. The results of the semiquantitative analysis of ten urine parameters by reagent strip show differences with respect to sex (e.g., leucocytes and erythrocytes) and age (e.g., specific gravity, pH, nitrite, protein, erythrocytes). The usefulness of the estimation of glucose in urine is discussed in connection with the corresponding serum glucose levels.