Steatorrhea in Japanese patients with chronic pancreatitis

Abstract

Fecal fat excretion, fecal mass, fecal fat concentration, and the coefficient of fat absorption were evaluated in 31 normal Japanese subjects with a mean fat consumption of 61.8 g and compared with the values in 43 Japanese patients with chronic pancreatitis (CP) with a fat consumption of 40.2 g. Fecal fatty acids were analyzed by the gas chromatographic method. Fecal fat excretion by normal individuals was 1.7 +/- 1.0 (Mean +/- SD) g/day (range, 0.4-4.9 g/day). Steatorrhea was therefore defined as fecal fat excretion that exceeded 5.0 g/day. The patients with CP were divided into three groups: non-steatorrhea (fecal fat < 5.0 g/day), chemical steatorrhea (fecal fat > or = 5 g/day and no appearance of fatty stool), and manifest steatorrhea (evaluated from the appearance of fatty stool). In addition, we investigated the correlation between fecal fat excretion and pancreatic exocrine function, obtained by the pancreozymin-secretin (or secretin) test in 24 controls and 30 CP patients. Fecal fat excretion by CP patients was 9.1 +/- 8.8 g/day, which was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than that of controls. There were 28 (65%) CP patients with steatorrhea. Of these, 15 (35%) showed chemical steatorrhea and 13 (30%) manifest steatorrhea. In CP patients, the fecal mass (250.5 +/- 133.6 g vs control, 125.6 +/- 52.5 g), fecal fat concentration (3.40 +/- 2.16 g% vs control, 1.48 +/- 0.89 g%), and coefficient of fat absorption (77.3 +/- 20.2% vs control, 97.2 +/- 1.7%) all showed significant differences from the controls.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

ESPGHAN and NASPGHAN Report on the Assessment of Exocrine Pancreatic Function and Pancreatitis in Children

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Chronic Pancreatitis in the Elderly in Japan

“…In particular, we assessed alcohol consumption with or without smoking (1 20 cigarettes/day) and the presence of abdominal pain (requiring analgesics), diabetes mellitus (requiring insulin or hypoglycemic agent), manifest steatorrhea (fecal fat excretion 1 5 g/day by the Van de Kamer method and/or appearance of fatty stools by naked eyes) [9,10], and malnutrition (presence of more than two of the following factors: ideal body weight index ! 0.8, serum albumin concentration !…”

Study on Pancreatic Insufficiency (Chronic Pancreatitis) and Steatorrhea in Japanese Patients with Low Fat Intake

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“…Daily fecal fat excretion was defined as ‘normal’ when it was <5 g [15], as ‘moderate steatorrhea’ when it was 5–10 g, and as ‘severe steatorrhea’ when it was ≧10 g.…”