Fecal fat concentration in patients with steatorrhea.

We predicted that fecal fat concentration (grams of fat per gram of stool wet weight) would be higher in patients with pancreatic steatorrhea than in those with steatorrhea due to gastrointestinal disease. To evaluate this hypothesis, we examined fecal weight, fecal fat excretion, and fecal fat concentration in 19 patients with steatorrhea due to pancreatic insufficiency and in 31 patients whose steatorrhea was due to various gastrointestinal diseases. There was no consistent difference in the severity of steatorrhea or diarrhea between the two groups of patients. Fecal fat concentration, however, was usually higher in patients with pancreatic insufficiency. Fecal fat concentration may be a useful clue in distinguishing pancreatic steatorrhea from steatorrhea due to gastrointestinal disease.