Intra-abdominal thickness by ultrasonography to predict risk factors for cardiovascular disease and its correlation with anthropometric measurements

The aim of this study was to determine if intra-abdominal thickness measured by ultrasonography (IATU) in men and women had a correlation with cardiovascular risk factors, to compare it with anthropometric measures (waist circumference [WC] and abdominal sagittal diameter [SIDi]), and to find a cut-off value for IATU to predict risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). In a cross-validation study, intra-abdominal fat tissue measured by CT at L4-L5 was significantly correlated with ultrasonography (US) intra-abdominal thickness. A total of 191 and 231 healthy men and women, respectively, aged 20 to 60 years, were evaluated by anthropometric indexes (body mass index [BMI], WC, and SDi), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP), fasting total plasma cholesterol (Chol), high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, triglyceride (TG), and glucose (Glu) levels. IATU was evaluated by the distance between the internal face of abdominal muscles and posterior wall of the aorta. All measurements were taken by the same physician. The subjects were divided into 3 cardiovascular risk groups, according to the presence of 2 or more risk factors-(1) moderate-risk (MR) group with 2 or more of the following: total Chol > 200 mg/dL, HDL cholesterol < 45 mg/dL, TG > 200 mg/dL, Glu > 126 mg/dL, SBP > 140 mm Hg, DBP > 90 mm Hg, comprising 68 men and 72 women; (2) high-risk (HR) group with 2 or more of the following: total Chol > 240 mg/dL, HDL cholesterol < 35 mg/dL, TG > 200 mg/dL + HDL cholesterol < 35 mg/dL, Glu > 126 mg/dL, SBP > 140 mm Hg, DBP > 90 mm Hg, comprising 34 men and 55 women; and (3) no-risk (NR) group with only 1 or none of the risk factors indicated in the MR and HR groups. IATU presented association with risk factors and presented a higher level of accuracy and specificity than SDi and WC (odds ratio [OR] = 2.27 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.05 to 4.80] for men and OR = 3.69 [95% CI, 1.98 to 66.90] for women). The cut-off length to predict moderate risk was 7 cm for both sexes (OR = 2.86 [95% CI, 1.44-5.68] for men and OR = 3.01 [95% CI, 11.61 to 5.62] for women), whereas the value of 9 cm predicted high risk for CVD (OR = 5.55 [95% CI, 2.32 to 13.28]) in men and of 8 cm in women (OR = 3.27 [95% CI, 1.63 to 6.56]). In conclusion, IATU is a useful tool to evaluate visceral fat and seems to be predictive of risk factors associated with CVD. Copyright 2002, Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.