Visceral Adiposity and Hepatic Steatosis at Abdominal CT: Association With the Metabolic Syndrome

OBJECTIVE. Visceral adiposity and hepatic steatosis may correlate with the metabolic syndrome but are not currently among the diagnostic criteria. We evaluated these features at unenhanced MDCT. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Semiautomated measurements of subcutaneous fat area, visceral fat area, and visceral fat percentage were obtained at the umbilical level at unenhanced MDCT of 474 adults (217 men, 257 women; mean age, 58.3 years) using a dedicated application (Fat Assessment Tool, EBW version 4.5). Unenhanced liver attenuation was also recorded. Metabolic syndrome was defined using the criteria proposed by the International Diabetes Federation in 2005. RESULTS. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 35.0% (76/217) among men and 35.8% (92/257) among women. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) for visceral fat area was 0.830 (95% CI, 0.784–0.867) in men and 0.887 (0.848–0.918) in women (p = 0.162). The AUC for subcutaneous fat area was 0.865 (0.823–0.899) in men and 0.762 (0.711–0...