title: Correlations between quantitative fat-water magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography in human subcutaneous white adipose tissue.
abstract: Beyond estimation of depot volumes, quantitative analysis of adipose tissue properties could improve understanding of how adipose tissue correlates with metabolic risk factors. We investigated whether the fat signal fraction (FSF) derived from quantitative fat-water magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans at 3.0 T correlates to CT Hounsfield units (HU) of the same tissue. These measures were acquired in the subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT) at the umbilical level of 21 healthy adult subjects. A moderate correlation exists between MRI- and CT-derived WAT values for all subjects, [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], with a slope of [Formula: see text], (95% CI [Formula: see text]), indicating that a decrease of 1 HU equals a mean increase of 0.38% FSF. We demonstrate that FSF estimates obtained using quantitative fat-water MRI techniques correlate with CT HU values in subcutaneous WAT, and therefore, MRI-based FSF could be used as an alternative to CT HU for assessing metabolic risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University , Institute of Imaging Science, 1161 21st Avenue South, Medical Center North, AA-1105, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States ; Vanderbilt University , Chemical and Physical Biology Program, 1161 21st Avenue South, Medical Center North, AA 3105, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States.
authors.forename: Aliya
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gifford
authors.affiliation: Tennessee Valley VA Healthcare , Department of Medical Imaging, 1161 21st Avenue South, Medical Center North, CCC-1121, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States ; Vanderbilt University , School of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, 1161 21st Avenue South, Medical Center North, CCC-1121, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States.
authors.forename: Ronald C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University , Institute of Imaging Science, 1161 21st Avenue South, Medical Center North, AA-1105, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States ; Vanderbilt University , School of Medicine, Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 2201 Children's Way #1014, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States.
authors.forename: Theodore F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Towse
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University , Institute of Imaging Science, 1161 21st Avenue South, Medical Center North, AA-1105, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States ; Vanderbilt University , School of Medicine, Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, 1161 21st Avenue South, Medical Center North, CCC-1121, Nashville, Tennessee 37235, United States.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brian Welch
keywords: Hounsfield units; fat quantification; fat signal fraction; obesity; quantitative biomarker