Assessment of feline abdominal adipose tissue using computed tomography.
Obesity is a common nutritional disorder in cats and it increases the risk factors for various diseases. The aim of this study is to suggest a method for the evaluation of feline obesity using computed tomography. The attenuation range from -156 to -106 was determined as the range of feline abdominal adipose tissue. With this range, total (TAT), visceral (VAT) and subcutaneous (SAT) adipose tissues were measured. The best correlation between the adipose tissue in cross-sectional image and entire abdomen volume was obtained at the L3 and L5 levels. The mean VAT/SAT ratio was 1.18±0.32, which was much higher than in humans. The cats with an overweight body condition had a significantly lower VAT/SAT ratio than cats with an ideal body condition. This technique may contribute to both the clinical diagnosis and the experimental study of feline obesity.
Seoul National University, College of Veterinary Medicine, Department of Veterinary Medical Imaging and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul 151-742, Republic of Korea.
Hyeyeon
H
Lee
Mieun
M
Kim
Mihyun
M
Choi
Namsoon
N
Lee
Jinhwa
J
Chang
Junghee
J
Yoon
Mincheol
M
Choi
D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000662:veterinary*; D012016:Reference Values; D050507:Subcutaneous Fat, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*