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Clinical usefulness of quantitative evaluation of visceral fat by ultrasonography

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Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this work was to evaluate the usefulness of a proposed method for visceral fat volume assessment by ultrasonography (US) in identifying those at risk of metabolic syndrome, and also to establish the most suitable cutoff level of waist circumference for the diagnosis of visceral adiposity.

Methods

One hundred and fifty-two outpatients with metabolic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, or dyslipidemia were studied. The total visceral fat volume (total-VFA) was measured by computed tomography (CT), the visceral fat area at the level of the umbilicus was measured by CT (CT-VFA), and the visceral fat area was also measured by US (US-VFA), as we recently proposed.

Results

Significant correlation coefficients were found between total-VFA and CT-VFA, US-VFA, and waist circumference in men but not in women. The correlation co-efficient between US-VFA and waist circumference was significantly positive in men and weakly positive in women. According to receiver–operator characteristic curves, the cutoff value of waist circumference yielding the maximal sensitivity plus specificity for predicting more than 100 cm2 of US-VFA was 85 cm in men and 84 cm in women. The change in US-VFA was significantly larger than that in waist circumference after a 6-month interval.

Conclusion

The US-measured visceral fat area is more useful than waist circumference in a clinical setting.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Gastroenterology, Ehime National Hospital, Ehime, Japan

    Seiji Nakanishi & Yoshikazu Kubo

  2. Department of Gastroenterology and Metabology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, 454 Shitsukawa, Toon, 791-0295, Japan

    Bunzo Matsuura, Masashi Hirooka, Teruhisa Ueda, Tetsuji Niiya, Shinya Furukawa, Masanori Abe, Yoichi Hiasa & Morikazu Onji

Authors
  1. Seiji Nakanishi
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  2. Bunzo Matsuura
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  3. Masashi Hirooka
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  4. Teruhisa Ueda
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  5. Tetsuji Niiya
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  6. Shinya Furukawa
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  7. Masanori Abe
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  8. Yoichi Hiasa
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  9. Yoshikazu Kubo
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  10. Morikazu Onji
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Morikazu Onji.

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Nakanishi, S., Matsuura, B., Hirooka, M. et al. Clinical usefulness of quantitative evaluation of visceral fat by ultrasonography. J Med Ultrasonics 34, 151–157 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-007-0149-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10396-007-0149-8

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