Overweight and diabetes are risk elements that make the difference in the case of coronavirus
August 6, 2020 - The study conducted in collaboration between theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and the Bufalini Hospital in Cesena where it was demonstrated that, for the same degree of obesity, those hospitalized in intensive care for the new coronavirus have a higher quantity of visceral fat than less severe cases (https://doi.org/10.2337/dc20-1333). Visceral fat, i.e. the fat that surrounds internal organs, is associated with a greater risk of hospitalization in intensive care with COVID-19.
The study involved over 400 people evaluated at the Bufalini Hospital on suspicion of COVID-19. “In particular, by comparing the CT scans of these patients we found that every millimeter of excess visceral fat thickness corresponded to a 16% risk of admission to intensive care. Given that on average patients with severe COVID-19 had 4 millimeters more visceral fat than non-severe ones, this would equate to almost 65% more likely to receive intensive treatment,” he says. Rocky Strollo, endocrinologist and researcher ofUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma.
This demonstrates that it is not only obesity, but also the distribution of fat in the patient that confers the need for ICU care. This is due to the fact that visceral fat produces two to three times more cytokines, such as interleukin 6, which are involved in the immunopathogenesis of COVID-19. “The CT examination was used in the acute phase to evaluate the extent and severity of the disease. Retrospectively, it is allowing us to analyze and identify subjects with a phenotype at risk, characterized by an abdominal distribution of fat, who should be better protected", concludes Sofia Battisti, radiologist at the Bufalini Hospital in Cesena and research doctorate at IRST under the patronage of the 'Bologna University.
