This methodological approach to assessing obesity is based on the prepilot work conducted on a small sample of men and women (25-58 years of age) in a laboratory setting. The use of skinfold calipers, body mass index, and sonographic imaging of adipose and visceral fat were obtained. In this pre-experimental work, the rigorous use of sonographic measures of visceral fat demonstrated better trend results than the other measurement tools. The sonographic methods employed were modeled after the work published by Hamagawa et al. All measurements were taken five times, and only the middle three were retained for mean data points. The data are compared and contrasted with a paucity of international studies using sonography to measure visceral adiposity. It is important to determine whether sonography could serve as a non-ionizing imaging technique for the assessment of body composition and a screening technique for cardiovascular disease prediction.
A preexperimental cohort study was conducted with 67 overweight cancer survivors. This cohort of participants was screened for baseline body composition and anthropometrics based on a variety of techniques, including body mass index (BMI), dual X-ray absorptiometry-percentage body fat (DXA-android %BF), diagnostic medical sonography (DMS), and waist circumference (WC). The combination of subcutaneous fat layer at the xyphoid and umbilicus compared with BMI, WC, and DXA-android %BF. These variables demonstrated moderately positive association and were statistically significant. A total maximum mean score of DMS measures of subcutaneous and visceral fat was also compared with BMI, WC, and DXA-android %BF. The aforementioned comparison had a moderately positive association and was statistically significant. The sonographic measure of mesentery fat was compared with WC and demonstrated a strongly positive strength of association and was statistically significant. Sonography may be an inexpensive, noninvasive, portable, and valid body composition measure for overweight patients.
Objectives The purpose of this study was to provide clinical evidence of the use of contrast-enhanced sonography in detecting and quantifying changes in intraneural vascularity due to median mononeuropathy. Methods Five Macaca fascicularis monkeys were exposed to 20 weeks of repetitive work to increase their risk of developing median mononeuropathy. Contrast-enhanced sonograms were obtained in 30-second increments for 7 minutes while a contrast agent was being delivered. Data were collected immediately at the conclusion of the 20-week work exposure and then again during a recovery phase approximately 3 months after the completion of work. Quantitative analysis and trend graphs were used to analyze median nerve perfusion intensity. This study also compared the use of both manual counting of pixels and semiautomatic measurement using specialized software. Results Based on the average data, maximum intensity values were identified as the best indicators of nerve hyperemia. Paired t tests demonstrated significantly higher maximum intensities in the working stage for 4 of the 5 subjects (P < .01). Conclusions This study provides preliminary evidence that (1) in a controlled exposure model, a change in intraneural vascularity of the median nerve between working and recovery can be observed; (2) this vascular change can be measured using an objective technique that quantifies the intensity of vascularity; and (3) contrast-enhanced sonography may improve the ability to reliably capture and measure low-flow microvascularity.
This preclinical study was conducted to develop discrete sonographic instrumentation settings and also safe contrast dosing that would consistently demonstrate perineural vascularity along the median nerve. This set of imaging studies was conducted with a convenience cohort of young adult female monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). Sonographic equipment settings and dosing were refined throughout the imaging series to ensure consistent contrast-enhanced ultrasound imaging. A mechanical index of 0.13 was consistently used for imaging. Perineural vessels were imaged with a suspension solution of 0.04 mL Definity/0.96 mL saline introduced over 5 minutes for a total dose of 0.8 mL of contrast solution. Blinded studies of high and low dose contrast, along with saline injections, were correctly identified by two experienced sonographers. This preclinical study established adequate equipment settings and dosing that allowed for a valid demonstration of vascularity surrounding the median nerve.
Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a form of median mononeuropathy (MMN) of the wrist that has become the most common nerve entrapment syndrome of the upper limbs. During the acute phase of CTS, the median nerve becomes hyperemic and enlarged as it begins to be compressed by the transverse carpal ligament; however, continual compression ultimately leads to median nerve ischemia. The objective of this study was to longitudinally quantify the amount of perfusion of the median nerve using spectral Doppler in a working animal model, as the cohort prospectively increased their risk of MMN through a repetitive pinching task. The results of the study provided low-level evidence that the use of spectral Doppler to accurately detect longitudinal changes in vascularity within the median nerve may be diagnostically inadequate. As the subjects in the study moved through the working and nonworking stages of study, spectral Doppler alone proved to lack the level of sensitivity needed to detect physiologic changes within the nerve. This outcome, although inconclusive when it comes to detecting changes in median nerve vascularity, does suggest the need for this method to be analyzed in conjunction with other sonographic features and provocative testing.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.