Rp. Stolk et al., Validity and reproducibility of ultrasonography for the measurement of intra-abdominal adipose tissue, INT J OBES, 25(9), 2001, pp. 1346-1351
OBJECTIVE: We studied the validity and reproducibility of a new abdominal u
ltrasound protocol for the assessment of intraabdominal adipose tissue.
MEASUREMENTS: Intra-abdominal adipose tissue was assessed by CT MRI, anthro
pometry and ultrasonography on a single day. By ultrasonography the distanc
e between peritoneum and lumbar spine was measured using a strict protocol,
including the location of the measurements, pressure on the transducer and
respiration. All measurements were repeated after 3 months.
RESULTS: The study population consisted of 19 overweight patients with a bo
dy mass index (BMI) of 32.9 kg/m(2) (s.d. 3.7), intra-abdominal adipose tis
sue on CT 140.1 cm(2) (s.d. 55.9), and a mean ultrasound distance of 9.8 cm
(s.d. 2.5). There was a strong association between the CT and ultrasonogra
phic measures: Pearson correlation coefficient was 0.81 (P < 0.001). The co
rrelation between ultrasound and waist circumference was 0.74 (P < 0.001),
the correlation between CT and waist circumference was 0.57 (P = 0.01). Ult
rasound appeared a good method to diagnose intra-abdominal obesity: the are
a under the ROC curve was 0.98. During the follow-up period of 3 months, th
e patients lost on average almost 3 kg of body weight. The correlation coef
ficient between changes in intra-abdominal adipose tissue assessed by CT an
d ultrasound was 0.74 (P < 0.001). The correlation coefficient of the mean
ultrasound distance assessed by two different sonographers at baseline was
0.94 (P < 0.001), the mean difference 0.4 cm (s.d. 0.9), and the coefficien
t of variation 5.4%, indicating good reproducibility of the ultrasound meas
urements.
CONCLUSIONS: The results of this validation study show that abdominal ultra
sound, using a strict protocol, is a reliable and reproducible method to as
sess the amount of intra-abdominal adipose tissue and to diagnose intra-abd
ominal obesity.