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Abdominal periaortic and renal sinus fat attenuation indices measured on computed tomography are associated with metabolic syndrome

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Abstract

Objectives

To investigate the association between abdominal periaortic (APA) and renal sinus (RS) fat attenuation index (FAI) measured on MDCT and metabolic syndrome in non-obese and obese individuals.

Methods

Visceral, subcutaneous, RS, and APA adipose tissue were measured in preoperative abdominal CT scans of individuals who underwent donor nephrectomy (n = 84) or bariatric surgery (n = 155). FAI was defined as the mean attenuation of measured fat volume. Participants were categorized into four groups: non-obese without metabolic syndrome (n = 64), non-obese with metabolic syndrome (n = 25), obese without metabolic syndrome (n = 21), and obese with metabolic syndrome (n = 129). The volume and FAI of each fat segment were compared among the groups. Receiver operator characteristics curve analysis was used to assess the association between the FAIs and metabolic syndrome.

Results

FAIs of all abdominal fat segments were significantly lower in the obese group than in the non-obese group (p < 0.001). RS, APA, and the visceral adipose tissue FAIs were significantly lower in participants with metabolic syndrome than in those without metabolic syndrome in the non-obese group (p < 0.001, p = 0.006, and p < 0.001, respectively). The area under the curve for predicting metabolic syndrome was significantly higher for APA FAI (0.790) than subcutaneous, visceral, and RS FAI in all groups (0.649, 0.647, and 0.655, respectively).

Conclusion

Both metabolic syndrome and obesity were associated with lower RS and APA adipose tissue FAI, and APA FAI performed best for predicting metabolic syndrome.

Key Points

The volume and FAI of RS, APA, and visceral adipose tissue showed opposite trends with regard to metabolic syndrome or obesity.

Both metabolic syndrome and obesity were associated with lower RS FAI and APA FAI.

APA FAI performed best for predicting metabolic syndrome among FAIs of abdominal fat segments.

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Abbreviations

APA:

Abdominal periaortic

FAI:

Fat attenuation index

RS:

Renal sinus

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Funding

This research was partially supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2020R1I1A3A04037367), and the Soonchunhyang University research fund (2020KSH1124).

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Correspondence to Soon Hyo Kwon.

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The scientific guarantor of this publication is Soon Hyo Kwon.

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The authors of this manuscript declare no relationships with any companies whose products or services may be related to the subject matter of the article.

Statistics and biometry

No complex statistical methods were necessary for this paper.

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This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB no.: 2019-04-032). The requirement for informed consent was waived by the IRB due to the observational retrospective nature of this study.

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Institutional Review Board approval was obtained.

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• retrospective

• cross-sectional study

• performed at one institution

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Eun Ji Lee and Nam-Jun Cho are co-first authors.

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Lee, E.J., Cho, NJ., Kim, H. et al. Abdominal periaortic and renal sinus fat attenuation indices measured on computed tomography are associated with metabolic syndrome. Eur Radiol 32, 395–404 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-021-08090-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00330-021-08090-7

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