Abdominal Fat Sonographic Measurement Compared to Anthropometric Indices for Predicting the Presence of Coronary Artery Disease

OBJECTIVES: Sonography for measuring intra-abdominal fat is more accurate than anthropometric measurements. Computed tomographic (CT) angiography has become an accurate noninvasive method for detection of coronary artery disease (CAD). We examined the associations between both sonographic and anthropometric measurements of abdominal adiposity and the presence of CAD on CT angiography. METHODS: We evaluated 83 consecutive patients (70% men; mean age ± SD, 56 ± 10.8 years) who were referred for CT angiography. Clinical and laboratory variables were determined, and CT angiography was performed using a 64-slice scanner. The severity of CAD was defined by visual assessment of any plaque, either calcified or noncalcified. Preperitoneal fat, subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat thicknesses were determined on sonography, and the abdominal fat index was calculated as the preperitoneal fat thickness-to-subcutaneous fat thickness ratio. RESULTS: Coronary artery disease was detected in 56 patients (67%). Patients with CAD had higher visceral fat thickness (9.3 ± 2.0 versus 8.2 ± 2.2 cm; P = .035) and a higher waist-to-hip ratio (0.97 ± 0.07 versus 0.92 ± 0.07; P = .018) than those without CAD. The preperitoneal fat thickness, subcutaneous fat thickness, and abdominal fat index were not correlated with the CAD status. After adjusting for traditional cardiovascular risk factors, however, only a waist-to-hip ratio higher than 0.95 remained significantly associated with the presence of CAD (odds ratio, 4.03; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-13.4). CONCLUSIONS: This study shows that sonographically based obesity measurements are not superior to anthropometric indices in predicting the presence of CAD.