The contribution of sonography to the measurement of intra‐abdominal fat

A study was conducted on a group of 50 obese females with a mean body mass index of 39 ± 16, aged 19 years to 60 years, in order to determine if sonography could be adopted as a direct means for measuring intra‐abdominal fat deposits. Adipose tissue evaluation was performed by computed tomography (CT) and ultrasonography (using 3.5‐MHz and 5‐MHz probes) at the L4 level. CT intra‐abdominal fat area (VAT) and ultrasonography visceral thickness from abdominal muscle to aorta were the values mainly considered. Ultrasonographic intra‐abdominal thickness correlated well with VAT ( r = 0.669, p < 0.001), supporting the hypothesis that ultrasonography could be useful in the direct evaluation of intra‐abdominal fat deposits.