Aim: Abdominal obesity is recognized as the best predictor of cardiovascular disease risk. While body mass index has traditionally been used to measure obesity, recent evidence suggests that visceral adipose tissue may be a better indicator of cardiovascular disease risk. Various surrogate imaging markers of visceral adipose tissue have recently been described, such as posterior right perinephric fat thickness, preperitoneal fat thickness, and the abdominal wall fat index. This study aimed to examine the link between atherosclerosis through measurement of carotid intima-media thickness and markers of abdominal obesity using ultrasonography.

Material and methods: This was a hospital-based prospective observational study. Patients with a body mass index of 25-40 were included as cases and those with a body mass index 18.0-24.9 as controls. Posterior right perinephric fat thickness, preperitoneal fat thickness, and abdominal wall fat index were measured and compared with carotid intima-media thickness in cases.

Results: A total of 100 cases and 100 age- and sex-matched controls were included. Body mass index did not show any statistically significant correlations with carotid intima-media thickness in this study. Among the visceral adiposity markers, posterior right perinephric fat thickness was the most sensitive and specific predictor of carotid intima-media thickness, while the abdominal wall fat index was the least sensitive and specific.

Conclusions: Ultrasonographic markers of visceral adipose tissue, especially posterior right perinephric fat thickness and preperitoneal fat thickness, demonstrate a stronger association with carotid atherosclerosis than body mass index, making them useful predictors, particularly in individuals with high body mass index. These markers can be measured during routine abdominal ultrasounds to screen for atherosclerosis risk in patients with abdominal obesity.

Keywords: abdominal obesity; body mass index; carotid intima-media thickness; ultrasound; visceral fat.

© 2025 Mohit Jain et al., published by Sciendo.

目标： 腹部肥胖被认为是预测心血管疾病风险的最佳指标。虽然传统上使用身体质量指数来测量肥胖，但最近的研究表明，内脏脂肪组织可能是更准确的心血管疾病风险指示器。近年来已经描述了多种可以作为内脏脂肪组织替代影像标记的标志物，例如右肾周后方脂肪厚度、腹膜前脂肪厚度和腹部壁脂肪指数。本研究旨在通过测量颈动脉内中膜厚度来考察这些腹部肥胖指标与动脉粥样硬化之间的关系。

材料和方法： 这是一项基于医院的前瞻性观察性研究。纳入了体重指数为25-40的患者作为病例组，体重指数18.0-24.9的个体作为对照组。测量并比较了病例组中的右肾周后方脂肪厚度、腹膜前脂肪厚度和腹部壁脂肪指数与颈动脉内中膜厚度之间的关系。

结果： 共纳入100例病例和100名年龄和性别匹配的对照。在本研究中，体重指数没有显示出任何统计学上显著地与颈动脉内中膜厚度相关性。在所有内脏肥胖指标中，右肾周后方脂肪厚度是最敏感和特异性的颈动脉内中膜厚度预测因子，而腹部壁脂肪指数则是最不敏感且特异性最低的。

结论： 超声影像学标记物中的内脏脂肪组织标志物（尤其是右肾周后方脂肪厚度和腹膜前脂肪厚度）与颈动脉粥样硬化之间的关联比体重指数更显著，这使得它们成为预测的有用指标，特别是对于高体重指数的人群。这些标志物可以在常规腹部超声检查中测量，用于筛查有腹部肥胖患者的心血管疾病风险。

关键词： 腹部肥胖；身体质量指数；颈动脉内中膜厚度；超声波；内脏脂肪

© 2025 Mohit Jain et al., published by Sciendo.