Ultrasonography for the evaluation of visceral fat and the metabolic syndrome.

Association between abdominal obesity and cardiovascular disease has been related with visceral adiposity, through the predisposition of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus and metabolic syndrome (MS). Sonography is a simple and reliable method to measure both subcutaneous and visceral fat. To analyze the relationship of anthropometric measurements with abdominal adiposity measured by sonography and to analyze the utility of sonography in the prediction of insulin resistance (IR) and the other components of MS. Visceral fat measurements by sonography correlated better with components of MS than did subcutaneous fat measurements. Preperitoneal circumference (PC) was strongly correlated with all components of MS and with IR expressed as a homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) index for IR. PC was better than waist circumference (WC) in predicting triglyceride levels, apolipoprotein B levels, and HOMA index, but WC was better than PC in predicting high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.699 for PC and 0.684 for WC, in subjects with body mass index 25 kg/m2 or greater (P=.024 and .015, respectively). PC and WC showed good correlation with HOMA index (Spearman correlation coefficient=0.306, P<.001 and .206, P<.001, respectively). Abdominal visceral fat is better correlated with MS than subcutaneous fat; sonography is a useful method to evaluate the abdominal fat; PC is the best sonography parameter correlated with components of MS, and in overweight and obese subjects, PC is better than WC at predicting components of the MS.