Preperitoneal fat thickness by ultrasonography and obesity-related disorders

Purpose To determine optimal cutoff values for preperitoneal fat thickness measured by ultrasonography as indicators for obesity-related disorders. Methods We studied 276 men aged 60 ± 13 years and 307 women aged 64 ± 11 years. Participants were consecutively enrolled from inpatients aged ≤75 years. Demographic data were collected and maximal preperitoneal fat thickness (PFT_max) and carotid intima-media thickness were evaluated on B-mode ultrasonography. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was performed to determine optimal cutoff values for PFT_max. Results Multiple regression analysis using one or more obesity-related disorders as an objective variable showed that the tertile on the basis of PFT_max was a significant independent contributing factor in both men and women. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis identified the cutoff points of 6.1 mm for PFT_max in men (sensitivity, 66.7%; specificity, 62.5%) and 8.7 mm for PFT_max in women (sensitivity, 56.6%; specificity, 63.6%) as discriminator values corresponding to the presence of one or more obesity-related disorders. Using the new criteria to diagnose visceral obesity, we found that adjusted carotid intima-media thickness was significantly higher in men and women with visceral obesity and two or more obesity-related disorders than in those without them. Conclusions These findings suggested that PFT_max measured on ultrasonography was useful in screening for indicators of cardiovascular risk factors.