Avaliação ultrassonográfica da gordura visceral e subcutânea em crianças obesas

Abstract

ObjectiveTo evaluate sonographic measurements of visceral and subcutaneous fat in children, and to investigate the usefulness of preperitoneal fat (PF) and the abdominal wall fat index (AFI) as parameters to determine visceral fat and presence of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) in obese children.Materials and MethodsA case-control study of a sample including 44 children (22 cases and 22 controls) matched by sex and age. The Student t test and the Fisher exact test were utilized in the descriptive and bivariate analysis.ResultsThe sonographic parameters evaluated - subcutaneous cell tissue, PF and intraperitoneal fat, and NAFLD - presented high statistical association with body mass index. NAFLD was observed in eight obese patients (36.36%), and PF and AFI were the variables with highest statistical significance, with p < 0.0001.ConclusionUltrasonography is useful tool in the differentiation and quantification of visceral and subcutaneous fat in children. The measures of PF and AFI are useful in the assessment of visceral fat and NAFLD in obese children.

Relationship Between Body Mass Index, Fatty Liver, Lipids Profile, Carotid Intima-Media Thickness and Subcutaneous and Visceral Fat Determined by Ultrasound

“…The present study indicated a linear relation between BMI and the degree of steatosis which is consistent with the results reported by Sakuno et al (14). There was a direct relationship between the peritoneal fat and the incidence of non-alcoholic fatty liver with BMI also observed in another study, that reported the possible relationship between subcutaneous and visceral fat thickness measured by ultrasound and occurrence of fatty liver.…”

“…Atherosclerotic diseases are among most important causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide (14)(15)(16)(17)(18). How- ever, cardiovascular events and death from these cardiovascular risk factors rarely occurred in children, the dispersion of cardiovascular disorders can be still diagnosed in children (19).…”

“…In this case, it is very helpful to conduct a research on changes in liver enzymes and serum lipids level along with changes in liver echogenicity representing fat deposition by using ultrasound. In some studies, the measurement of the intraabdominal fat using the CT and the ultrasonography were compared and their results indicated that the ultrasonographic inter-abdominal fat thickness was consistent with thickness measured by CT scan (14)(15)(16).…”

Ultrasound as a method to evaluate the distribution of abdominal fat in obese prepubertal children and the relationship between abdominal fat and metabolic alterations

“…In this context, the accumulation of fat in the abdomen and central distribution of that fat have been described as major risk factors for metabolic alterations and cardiovascular diseases ( 4 , 5 ) . Various imaging methods have been used in the evaluation of the distribution of abdominal fat ( 6 - 11 ) , such as computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and ultrasound, the last being the most rapid method, being easily accepted, and not employing ionizing radiation, which is of great importance, especially in childhood ( 12 ) .…”

Gordura visceral e subcutânea

“…Several studies in the literature, including the one published in the present issue of Radiologia Brasileira ( 1 ) , have demonstrated the accuracy and reproducibility of the method.…”