Keywords:
Abdomen, Computer applications, CT, Health policy and practice, Endocrine disorders, Metabolic disorders
Authors:
A. Ciudin1, R. Salvador Tarrason1, A. Budoy1, L. Bunesch Villalba1, A. Ciudin1, M. G. Diaconu1, C. Spinu2, C. Nicolau1, A. Alcaraz1; 1Barcelona/ES, 2Sabadell/ES
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2013/C-0281
Purpose
The waist circumference is one of the criteria used for the definition of the metabolic syndrome1.
It is also an independent cardiovascular risk factor,
with higher predicting value than the body mass index2.
In retrospective studies it can be difficult to obtain the value of the waist circumference if this data was not specifically measured before.
Moreover,
as the waist circumference changes with time,
it cannot be evaluated retrospectively.
Abdominal CT images fulfill perfectly the purpose of saving a snapshot of the abdominal circumference of a person at a certain moment in time.
An apparent limitation of this idea is the fact that abdominal CTs are performed in supine position and the abdominal perimeter is usually measured with the patient in standing position3.
Nonetheless,
recent studies suggested that supine position can also be used with minimal differences4.
The objective of our study was to validate the use of supine position and abdominal CT images for the evaluation of waist circumference by demonstrating that the abdominal perimeter obtained from abdominal CT images is equivalent to the real-life measured waist circumference.