The relationship between appendix visibility on non-contrast computed tomography and visceral obesity: A retrospective cross-sectional study

Title : The relationship between appendix visibility on non-contrast computed tomography and visceral obesity: A retrospective cross-sectional study

Abstract:

Material and methods: The study is a retrospective cross-sectional investigation of the relation between appendix visibility on non-contrast computed tomography (NCCT) and visceral obesity. The study population consists of adult patients who underwent NCCT imaging between January 2021 and January 2022. The data were collected from electronic medical records and imaging databases, including age, gender, CT findings, and visceral fat area (VFA) measurement. Patients with a history of appendectomy or incomplete data were excluded from the study. Descriptive statistics, chi-square test, Spearman's rho test, and logistic regression analysis were used for data analysis.
Results: In this study of 1562 patients (720 female, 842 male), we examined the relationship between appendix visibility, age, and visceral obesity. The appendix was visualized in 1390 patients (89%) and could not be marked in 172 patients (11%). We found that appendix visualization was significantly higher in patients with a high visceral fat area (VFA > 130) compared to those with a low VFA (p < 0.001). Age showed a weak positive correlation with appendix visibility (r = 0.1386), but the association was not statistically significant (p = 0.3028). 
Conclusion: This finding suggests that the visibility of the appendix is associated with the likelihood of having visceral obesity. The results highlight the potential importance of considering appendix visibility as a factor in assessing and understanding the risk of visceral obesity in patients. NCCT without contrast will be more useful when used in patients with high VFA for visualization of the appendix.

Keywords: visceral fat area (VFA), visceral obesity, non-contrast abdominal computered CT, appendix, acute appendicitis

Audience Takeaway Notes: 

• This study aims to evaluate the visibility of the appendix in abdominal tomographies taken without contrast in patients with high visceral obesity, thus eliminating the need for IV contrast material in these cases.

Biography:

Dr. Cem Emir Guldogan graduated from “Ankara University Faculty of Medicine” in 2008 and completed his general surgery residency at “Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital” in 2014. Between 2014-2016, he worked as a General Surgery Specialist in “Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital-Colorectal Surgery Department.” He participated in Robotic Colorectal Surgery training held at the Colorectal Surgery Department of “Stony Brook University, New York-USA” in 2015 and 2016. He started to work as a Consultant at “Liv Hospital Ankara-Turkey” in 2016. In addition, he lectured as an Assistant Professor at “Istanbul Altinbas University Faculty of Medicine,” Department of General Surgery, between 2017-2018 and at “Istanbul Istinye University Faculty of Medicine,” Department of General Surgery, between 2018-2020. He received the title of “Fellow of the European Board of Surgery” (FEBS) in 2019 and “International Fellow of the American Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery” (IFASMBS) in 2023. He received the title of “Associate Professor of General Surgery” in 2020 and has 84 scientific articles published in international journals. He has 89 articles, oral presentations, and posters, 29 of which are presented at international and 60 national congresses. Dr. Guldogan participated in many congresses as an invited speaker and moderator, and as of May 2023,  he has an H-index of 13, an I10-index of 15, and 1039 citations to his research.