Comparison of visceral fat volume and visceral fat area at umbilical level assessed by multislice computed tomography

Abstract

© 2019 JOURNAL OF THE MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF THAILAND. Objective: To validate the in-house software that quantify the total abdominal fat volume using multi-detector computed tomography (CT), and define the clinical significance of the capacities of intra-abdominal visceral fat volume (VFV) and subcutaneous fat volume (SFV) to the specific zones, which were scanned by a conventional single-slice CT at the level of umbilicus. Materials and Methods: Individuals who underwent a 320-slices coronary CT angiogram between January and March 2009 (40 men, 60 women) were recruited. SFV and VFV were measured by semi-automatic method starting at the upmost of the liver down to the lowermost of the pelvis. The capacity inside the muscle walls around abdominal cavity was used to measure intra-abdominal VFV. Calculations of subtracting the VFV from the total abdominal fat capacity will equal to the abdominal SFV. In the same way, the intra-abdominal visceral fat areas (VFA) and subcutaneous fat areas (SFA) were computed by the commercial AccuView software at the level of umbilical. Results: VFV was correlated positively with VFA measured by the single-slice CT at the level of umbilicus in both genders (r=0.903, p<0.001 in men and r=0.786, p<0.001 in women). SFV also showed a positive correlation with SFA in both genders (r=0.835, p<0.001 in men and r=0.726, p<0.001 in women). Conclusion: A new method in measuring the intra-abdominal fat capacities is achieved semi-automatically through helical CT.