title: Measuring visceral and hepatic fat in clinical practice and clinical research.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To review how visceral and hepatic fat are measured in clinical practice and clinical research.
  
  
  METHODS
  We examine different methods employed to assess visceral and hepatic fat in the literature.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fat in the human body is located in 2 main compartments: subcutaneous and visceral, which also includes liver fat. Visceral and liver fats are associated with the metabolic complications of obesity like hypertension, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. Therefore, there is a need to detect those fats early in life before the development of cardiometabolic syndrome (CMS). Many modalities have been proposed to measure visceral and liver fat. Indirect measurements can be done through waist circumference (WC), dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA), ultrasound, and bioelectric impedance, whereas direct methods include computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). An ideal measurement method should be noninvasive, reliable, suitable for all body sizes, widely available, cost and time effective, show low variability, and have no or limited radiation exposure.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Measuring visceral and liver fat is not a straightforward procedure in clinical practice or research; several variables may affect measure accuracy and validity.
authors: Staten Island University Hospital, Staten Island, NY 10305, USA. Naboush@hotmail.com
authors: Ali
authors: A
authors: Naboush
authors: Osama
authors: O
authors: Hamdy
mesh_terms: D001823:Body Composition; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D055105:Waist Circumference