title: Abdominal regional fat distribution on MRI correlates with cholecystolithiasis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine whether abdominal regional fat distribution pattern on MRI is correlated with cholecystolithiasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of 163 patients with cholecystolithiasis and 163 non-cholecystolithiasis control subjects admitted to our institution between March 2011 and September 2013 were included in this cross-sectional evaluation. There were 98 women and 65 men in cholecystolithiasis group with an average age of 57±16 years (range 25-86 years). There were 87 women and 76 men in the control group with an average age of 41±16 years (range 14-77 years). Visceral adipose tissue (VAT), abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) and total abdominal adipose tissue (TAT) of all the subjects at navel level were measured on abdominal MRI. According to the visceral adipose area (cut-off point VAT = 100 cm2), study subjects were divided into 1) increased accumulation of intra-abdominal fat and 2) normal distribution of intra-abdominal fat. Logistic regression was used to assess the association of fat with the presence of cholecystolithiasis, adjusted for age and sex.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of increased intra-abdominal fat accumulation in the cholecystolithiasis group was significantly higher than that of the control group (P = 0.000). After adjusting for age and sex, cholecystolithiasis was associated with a one standard deviation increment in the waist circumference (WC) (OR = 1.44; 95%CI: 1.01,1.93; p = 0.00), VAT (OR = 4.26; 95%CI: 1.85,5.29; p = 0.00), VAT/SAT (OR = 8.66; 95%CI: 1.60,12.63; p = 0.00), and VAT/TAT (OR = 6.73; 95%CI: 4.24,12.18; p = 0.00), but not with fat content in the abdominal subcutaneous fat (p = 0.19).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The visceral adipose tissue and distribution proportion of abdominal adipose tissue are correlates of cholecystolithiasis.
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Tian Wu
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiao Ming
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Imaging and Interventional Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, New Territories, Hong Kong SAR, China.
authors.forename: Yi-Xiang
authors.initials: YX
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiao Xiao
authors.initials: XX
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xing Hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Xiao Feng
authors.initials: XF
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.affiliation: Sichuan Key Laboratory of Medical Imaging, Department of Radiology, Affiliated Hospital of North Sichuan Medical College, Sichuan Province, China.
authors.forename: Yi Fan
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Ji
mesh_terms: D050153:Abdominal Fat / Q000473:pathology*; D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000473:pathology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001823:Body Composition; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D041761:Cholecystolithiasis / Q000473:pathology*; D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult