Clinical usefulness of quantitative evaluation of visceral fat by ultrasonography.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this work was to evaluate the usefulness of a proposed method for visceral fat volume assessment by ultrasonography (US) in identifying those at risk of metabolic syndrome, and also to establish the most suitable cutoff level of waist circumference for the diagnosis of visceral adiposity.


METHODS
One hundred and fifty-two outpatients with metabolic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, or dyslipidemia were studied. The total visceral fat volume (total-VFA) was measured by computed tomography (CT), the visceral fat area at the level of the umbilicus was measured by CT (CT-VFA), and the visceral fat area was also measured by US (US-VFA), as we recently proposed.


RESULTS
Significant correlation coefficients were found between total-VFA and CT-VFA, US-VFA, and waist circumference in men but not in women. The correlation co-efficient between US-VFA and waist circumference was significantly positive in men and weakly positive in women. According to receiver-operator characteristic curves, the cutoff value of waist circumference yielding the maximal sensitivity plus specificity for predicting more than 100 cm(2) of US-VFA was 85 cm in men and 84 cm in women. The change in US-VFA was significantly larger than that in waist circumference after a 6-month interval.


CONCLUSIONS
The US-measured visceral fat area is more useful than waist circumference in a clinical setting.
Department of Gastroenterology, Ehime National Hospital, Ehime, Japan.
Seiji
S
Nakanishi
Department of Gastroenterology and Metabology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, 454 Shitsukawa, Toon, 791-0295, Japan.
Bunzo
B
Matsuura
Department of Gastroenterology and Metabology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, 454 Shitsukawa, Toon, 791-0295, Japan.
Masashi
M
Hirooka
Department of Gastroenterology and Metabology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, 454 Shitsukawa, Toon, 791-0295, Japan.
Teruhisa
T
Ueda
Department of Gastroenterology and Metabology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, 454 Shitsukawa, Toon, 791-0295, Japan.
Tetsuji
T
Niiya
Department of Gastroenterology and Metabology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, 454 Shitsukawa, Toon, 791-0295, Japan.
Shinya
S
Furukawa
Department of Gastroenterology and Metabology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, 454 Shitsukawa, Toon, 791-0295, Japan.
Masanori
M
Abe
Department of Gastroenterology and Metabology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, 454 Shitsukawa, Toon, 791-0295, Japan.
Yoichi
Y
Hiasa
Department of Gastroenterology, Ehime National Hospital, Ehime, Japan.
Yoshikazu
Y
Kubo
Department of Gastroenterology and Metabology, Ehime University Graduate School of Medicine, 454 Shitsukawa, Toon, 791-0295, Japan. onjimori@m.ehime-u.ac.jp.
Morikazu
M
Onji
metabolic syndrome; ultrasonography; visceral fat area; waist circumference