Ultrasound estimates of visceral and subcutaneous-abdominal adipose tissues in infancy.
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Other imaging techniques to quantify internal-abdominal adiposity (IA-AT) and subcutaneous-abdominal adiposity (SCA-AT) are frequently impractical in infants. The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to validate ultrasound (US) visceral and subcutaneous-abdominal depths in assessing IA-AT and SCA-AT from MRI as the reference method in infants and (b) to analyze the association between US abdominal adiposity and anthropometric measures at ages 3 months and 12 months. Twenty-two infants underwent MRI and US measures of abdominal adiposity. Abdominal US parameters and anthropometric variables were assessed in the Cambridge Baby Growth Study (CBGS), n = 487 infants (23 girls) at age 3 months and n = 495 infants (237 girls) at 12 months. US visceral and subcutaneous-abdominal depths correlated with MRI quantified IA-AT (r = 0.48, P < 0.05) and SCA-AT (r = 0.71, P < 0.001) volumes, respectively. In CBGS, mean US-visceral depths increased by ~20 % between ages 3 and 12 months (P < 0.0001) and at both ages were lower in infants breast-fed at 3 months than in other infants. US-visceral depths at both 3 and 12 months were inversely related to skinfold thickness at birth (P = 0.03 and P = 0.009 at 3 and 12 months, resp.; adjusted for current skinfold thickness). In contrast, US-subcutaneous-abdominal depth at 3 months was positively related to skinfold thickness at birth (P = 0.004). US measures can rank infants with higher or lower IA-AT and SCA-AT. Contrasting patterns of association with visceral and subcutaneous-abdominal adiposities indicate that they may be differentially regulated in infancy.
Date Issued
2013-01-31
Date Acceptance
2013-03-27
Start Page
951954
Journal / Book Title
J Obes
Volume
2013
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2013 Emanuella De Lucia Rolfe et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Sponsor
British Heart Foundation
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23710350
Grant Number
PG/13/49/30307
Subjects
Adiposity
Age Factors
Female
Humans
Infant
Infant, Newborn
Intra-Abdominal Fat
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Predictive Value of Tests
Reproducibility of Results
Skinfold Thickness
Subcutaneous Fat, Abdominal
Ultrasonography
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
United States