Keywords:
Musculoskeletal spine, CT, Comparative studies, Connective tissue disorders, Metabolic disorders
Authors:
C. Dan Lantsman1, A. Herman2, J.-J. Verlaan3, M. Stern1, R. Mader4, I. Eshed1; 1Ramat Gan/IL, 2Ashdod/IL, 3Utrecht/NL, 4Afula/IL
DOI:
10.1594/ecr2018/C-0320
Aims and objectives
Diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) is a poorly understood,
systemic condition characterized by progressive calcification and ossification of ligaments and entheses with marked predilection for the axial skeleton [1-2].
DISH is associated with metabolic syndrome (MS) and its risk factors,
especially obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus [3-4].
These were also reported in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS),
the inflammatory counterpart of DISH also known to involve entheses of the axial and peripheral sites [5].
Obesity can be measured,
in addition to traditional measurement methods as BMI,
using visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) areas.
VAT has been distinctly linked to impaired glucose and lipid metabolism and increased insulin resistance [6-7] and was also shown as a major predictor for cardiovascular events [8].
Currently,
the gold standard for quantitative assessment of VAT and SAT is by CT and MRI [9-10].
Due to the potential role of visceral adiposity as a surrogate biomarker for MS in DISH and AS subjects,
in the current study we aimed to evaluate visceral and subcutaneous fat distribution on CT examinations of subjects with DISH as compared to age- and gender-matched controls as well as to patients with AS.