Mesenteric panniculitis: Prevalence, imaging findings, relation with malignancy, comparison with control group and six-year follow-up

Objective: Objective: To investigate the prevalence of mesenteric panniculitis (MP), imaging findings, its relationship with malignancy, development of malignancy in follow-up and make a comparison with the control group. Patients and Methods: A total of 3196 multidetector computed tomography (CT) scans were evaluated retrospectively in terms of MP. CT findings of MP, accompanying benign and malignant pathologies were examined. Two consecutive patients who matched by age, gender, and abdominal diameter were included in the control group. A comparison was made between the MP and control groups concerning malignancy and new malignancy development in the up to 6 years follow-up. Results: One hundred and sixty-three MP cases and 326 control cases were included to the study. The most common CT findings of MP were increased density of mesenteric fat, pseudomass appearance, and lymph nodes within the pseudomass. 59.5% (n: 97) of the MP group and 58.3% (n: 190) of the control group were associated with malignancy (p: 0.77). The most common malignities were colorectal cancer (n: 21, 12.2%) in the MP group, and lung cancer (n: 40, 12.2%) in the control group. During follow-up, new malignities were detected 9.2% (n: 11) in the MP group and 6.3% (n: 8) in the control group (p: 0.37). Lung cancer (n: 3, 27.3%) in the MP group and colorectal cancer (n: 2, 25%) in the control group were the most frequently seen cancer type (p: 0.09). Conclusion: Mesenteric panniculitis prevalence is 5.1%. When the MP group was compared with the control group, there was no significant accompanying malignancy and no significant new cancer development was observed.08