Measuring Visceral and Hepatic Fat in Clinical Practice and Clinical Research.

Source

Staten Island University Hospital.

Abstract

Objective: Measuring visceral and hepatic fat in clinical practice and clinical research.Methods: This is a review article looking at the different methods for assessing visceral and hepatic fat.Results: Fat in the human body is located in 2 main compartments; subcutaneous and visceral which also includes liver fat. Visceral and liver fats are associated with the metabolic complications of obesity like HTN, Diabetes, and atherosclerosis. Therefore, there is an utmost need to detect those fats early in life before the development of the cardiometabolic syndrome. Many modalities were proposed to measure visceral and liver fat. Indirect measurements can be done through waist circumference, DEXA, Ultrasound, and bioelectric impedance while direct ones include CT scan and MRI. An ideal measurement method should be non-invasive, reliable, suitable for all body sizes, broad in availability, cost and time effective, has low variability, and with no or limited radiation exposure.Conclusion: Measuring visceral and liver fats is not a straightforward procedure in both clinical practice and clinical research as several variables may affect the accuracy and the validity of the measures.

TimAllenMDJD

Friday, February 22, 2013