title: Dual-energy X-ray performs as well as clinical computed tomography for the measurement of visceral fat.
abstract: Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) is associated with adverse health effects including cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. We developed a dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) measurement of visceral adipose tissue (DXA-VAT) as a low cost and low radiation alternative to computed tomography (CT). DXA-VAT was compared to VAT assessed using CT by an expert reader (E-VAT). In addition, the same CT slice was also read by a clinical radiographer (C-VAT) and a best-fit anthropomorphic and demographic VAT model (A-VAT) was developed. Whole body DXA, CT at L4-L5, and anthropometry were measured on 272 black and white South African women (age 29 ± 8 years, BMI 28 ± 7 kg/m(2), waist circumference (WC) 89 ± 16 cm). Approximately one-half of the dataset (n = 141) was randomly selected and used as a training set for the development of DXA-VAT and A-VAT, which were then used to estimate VAT on the remaining 131 women in a blinded fashion. DXA-VAT (r = 0.93, standard error of the estimate (SEE) = 16 cm(2)) and C-VAT (r = 0.93, SEE = 16 cm(2)) were strongly correlated to E-VAT. These correlations with E-VAT were significantly stronger (P < 0.001) than the correlations of individual anthropometry measurements and the A-VAT model (WC + age, r = 0.79, SEE = 27 cm(2)). The inclusion of anthropometric and demographic measurements did not substantially improve the correlation between DXA-VAT and E-VAT. DXA-VAT performed as well as a clinical read of VAT from a CT scan and better than anthropomorphic and demographic models.
authors.affiliation: UCT/MRC Research Unit for Exercise Science and Sports Medicine, Department of Human Biology, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.
authors.forename: Lisa K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Micklesfield
authors.forename: Julia H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Goedecke
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Punyanitya
authors.forename: Kevin E
authors.initials: KE
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: Thomas L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Kelly
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008875:Middle Aged; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000208:ethnology; D013019:South Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D055105:Waist Circumference; D055815:Young Adult