Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
 |
Checking for direct PDF access through Ovid | |
Excerpt
Body surface dimensions and subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness may be used to estimate the distribution of subcutaneous fat mass. However, the accuracy of this method (determined from the inter-comparison between ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging) has only been validated in a single population.
PURPOSE: To examine the validity and reliability of ultrasound to estimate total and segmental subcutaneous adipose tissue volume (SATV) in young and middle-aged men and women. METHODS: Percent body fat was determined by hydrostatic weighing (men, n = 25; women, n = 29). Total and segmental (arm, trunk, thigh, and lower leg) SATV were estimated from subcutaneous adipose tissue layer thickness (B-mode ultrasound) and the body surface area (equation). Consecutive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images were obtained from head to toe to determine subcutaneous adipose tissue area and segmental SATV. The mean difference of repeated measures of total SATV was 1.8%. RESULTS: Body mass index and % body fat were 24.4 kg/m2 [range, 18.2–32.3] and 16.8% [4.4–31.4], respectively, for men and 21.8 kg/m2 [18.0–31.5] and 23.4% [10.7–38.7] for women. Ultrasound-estimated SATV of the arm, lower leg and trunk was lower (p<0.05) compared to MRI-measured SATV in men and women while the ultrasound-estimated thigh SATV was higher (p<0.05) than MRI-measured SATV in both genders. Total ultrasound-estimated SATV was 11.4% (men) and 11.0% (women) higher than MRI-measured total SATV. Significant strong correlations (p<0.001) were observed between MRI-measured total and segmental SATV and ultrasound-estimated SATV for all segments (r = 0.84–0.96) in both genders.
CONCLUSION: These results show that ultrasound is a reasonable method for estimating SATV.
