title: Assessment of Abdominal Fat Distribution in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease by Magnetic Resonance Imaging: a Population-based Study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To investigate the association between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and quantitative measures of central adiposity in the general population using a semi-automated method on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were recruited from Golestan Cohort Study. Two groups of 120 individuals with and without fatty liver were randomly selected based on findings of ultrasound. Non-invasive diagnosis of NAFLD was made by combination of ultrasound and MRI. Various anthropometric indices including body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) and waist-to-height ratio (WHtR) were measured. Segmentation and calculation of visceral (VFA) and subcutaneous fat area (SFA) were performed on three levels of MRI slices using semi-automated software.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 109 individuals fulfilled the NAFLD criteria, while 92 subjects were selected as the control group. All obesity measures, except for SFA, were significantly higher in subjects with NAFLD compared to controls. Significant associations were found between NAFLD and adiposity indices, except for SFA, with the highest odds ratio observed in WHR (OR: 3.37, CI: 1.40-3.70, P < 0.001). VFA also had the greatest correlation with ultrasound (r = 0.523, P < 0.001) and MRI (r = 0.546, P < 0.001) indicators of NAFLD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Quantitative measures of visceral adiposity are associated with NAFLD, while subcutaneous fat measures are poor indicators for identifying NAFLD. Compared to conventional anthropometric indices, VFA best correlates with ultrasound and MRI criteria of fatty liver.
authors.affiliation: 1)Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. North Kargar Ave. Tehran 14114, Iran. 2)Digestive Tract Image Processing Research Group, Digestive Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Amir Reza
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Radmard
authors.affiliation: Digestive Tract Image Processing Research Group, Digestive Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. North Kargar Ave. Tehran 14117-13135, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Sadegh
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Rahmanian
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. North Kargar Ave. Tehran 14114, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Abrishami
authors.affiliation: 5)Assistant Professor, Neuroscience Department, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. 6)Digestive Tract Image Processing Research Group, Digestive Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yoonessi
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. North Kargar Ave. Tehran 14114, Iran.
authors.forename: Soheil
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kooraki
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehrdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dadgostar
authors.affiliation: Assistant Professor, Department of Radiology, Shariati hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. North Kargar Ave. Tehran 14114, Iran.
authors.forename: Amir Pejman
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Hashemi Taheri
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. North Kargar Ave. Tehran 14114, Iran.
authors.forename: Marjan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gerami Seresht
authors.affiliation: Associate Professor, Liver and Pancreatobiliary Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14117-13135, Iran.
authors.forename: Hossein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Poustchi
authors.affiliation: Liver and Pancreatobiliary Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14117-13135, Iran.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jafari
authors.affiliation: Professor of Medicine, Liver and Pancreatobiliary Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14117-13135, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Malekzadeh
authors.affiliation: Professor of Medicine, Liver and Pancreatobiliary Diseases Research Center, Digestive Diseases Research Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14117-13135, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Merat
mesh_terms: D050154:Adiposity; D015992:Body Mass Index; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007492:Iran; D016015:Logistic Models; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D065626:Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease / Q000150:complications*; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D050507:Subcutaneous Fat, Abdominal / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography; D055105:Waist Circumference; D049629:Waist-Hip Ratio