Correlation of Fat Distribution in Whole Body MRI With Generally Used Anthropometric Data

Abstract

: We compared different body measures and body fat devices with the whole body fat distribution acquired by MRI. Generally, there were significant correlations of all modalities with body fat content (TAT) and mainly with SCAT. Correlations with VAT compartment were much weaker and an adequate estimation of VAT is, therefore, not possible. Only WHR revealed significant correlations with the fat in the body center, but only in women. If it is important to investigate especially the VAT which is responsible for a higher cardiovascular risk, risk for a metabolic syndrome and that is correlated with the course of different psychiatric diseases, cross sectional techniques such as MRI can not be substituted by simpler methods.

Critical Appraisal of Data Acquisition in Body Composition: Evaluation of Methods, Techniques and Technologies on the Anatomical Tissue-System Level

“…It shows that moderate to strong relationships of BMI and WC with absolute tissue masses and with muscle tissue mass proportions in elderly subjects exist. These results confirm the findings of previous validation work using CT and MRI on living subjects (Ferrannini et al, 2008;Kvist et al, 1988;Lee et al, 2000;Ludesher et al, 2009). However cautious clinical interpretation is warranted since important inter-individual differences in tissue proportions were found in subjects with similar BMI and/or WC values.…”

“…These reference standards are based on predictive equations that assume constancy and/or homogeneity of the compartments without taking into account the human biological variation of tissue composition (Clarys et al, , 2010bDeurenberg, 2003;Scafoglieri et al, 2009Scafoglieri et al, , 2010. Ideally, validation as markers of adiposity should be performed against multi-compartment models of BC as provided by three-dimensional imaging techniques such as CT and MRI or against direct measurements of AT such as total body carbon assessment and whole-body dissection Kvist et al, 1988;Ludesher et al, 2009). Even though CT and MRI are often cited as in vivo reference standards for the quantification of tissue-system level components, publications describing validation of these techniques with human cadavers remain scarce (Abate et al, 1994;Foster et al, 1984;Janssens et al, 1994;Mitsiopoulos et al, 1998;Rossner et al, 1990;.…”

Assessing Adiposity

“…Ludescher et al 207 reported that WC, WHR, and BMI were significantly correlated with total adipose tissue, VAT, and SAT; HC was correlated with SAT and total adipose tissue in men and also with VAT in women. Moreover, when Lee et al 208 assessed which measure (WC, abdominal fat mass by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry [DEXA], or abdominal fat mass by CT) was most strongly associated with metabolic risk factors in Korean women, they concluded that all methods were of comparable utility.…”

The effect of GH replacement therapy on different fat compartments: a whole-body magnetic resonance imaging study

“…The 40K labeled water dilution technique and BIA assessment depend on total body water and/or electrolyte distribution, which have been shown to be affected by GHD and GHRT (13,14). This may lead to an overestimation of changes in FFM using these methods (7,15,16). DEXA scan does not offer the possibility to differentiate between subcutaneous and visceral FM, a distinction which may be of particular clinical importance in these patients.…”

“…Recent data suggest that abdominal cross-sectional imaging (MRI or CT) is less reliable than whole abdomen scanning in determining visceral FM (16,17). Furthermore, whole-body MRI has been established for the separate assessment of the different body fat compartments (total, subcutaneous, and visceral FM) in different scientific settings, including insulin-resistant conditions (18).…”