Reproducibility of abdominal fat assessment by ultrasound and computed tomography

To test the accuracy and reproducibility of ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) for the quantification of abdominal fat in correlation with the anthropometric, clinical, and biochemical assessments.

Using ultrasound and CT, we determined the thickness of subcutaneous and intra-abdominal fat in 101 subjects-of whom 39 (38.6%) were men and 62 (61.4%) were women-with a mean age of 66.3 years (60-80 years). The ultrasound data were correlated with the anthropometric, clinical, and biochemical parameters, as well as with the areas measured by abdominal CT.

Intra-abdominal thickness was the variable for which the correlation with the areas of abdominal fat was strongest (i.e., the correlation coefficient was highest). We also tested the reproducibility of ultrasound and CT for the assessment of abdominal fat and found that CT measurements of abdominal fat showed greater reproducibility, having higher intraobserver and interobserver reliability than had the ultrasound measurements. There was a significant correlation between ultrasound and CT, with a correlation coefficient of 0.71.

In the assessment of abdominal fat, the intraobserver and interobserver reliability were greater for CT than for ultrasound, although both methods showed high accuracy and good reproducibility.