The objective of our study was to determine if Intra Abdominal Thickness measured by Ultrasonography (IATU) has correlation with cardiovascular risk factors, and if it is a better predictor of cardiovascular risk than waist circumference and sagittal diameter. Finally we tried to find a cut off point for abdominal thickness measured by Ultrasonography to predict cardiovascular disease (CVD). One hundred ninety one healthy men and 231 healthy women were submitted to anthropometric evaluation and blood pressure measure. Blood samples were drawn for total plasma cholesterol, HDL, triglyceride and glucose determination. Intra-abdominal Ultrasonography was performed to measure abdominal thickness. The population was divided in three groups according to the presence of CVD risk factors: 1) moderately risk group (MR) with two or more of the following: total chol > 200mg/dL, HDL-cholesterol < 45mg/dL, TRIG > 200mg/dL, Glu > 126mg/DI, SBP > 140mmHg, DBP > 90mmHg; 2) high risk group (HR) with two or more of the indicated: total chol > 240mg/dl, HDL-cholesterol < 35mg/dl, TRIG > 200mg/dl + HDL-cholesterol < 35mg/dl, Glu > 126mg/dl, SBP > 140mmHg, DBP > 90mmHg; 3) no risk group (NR) - with only one or none of the risk factors indicated in the moderate and high group. The results showed that IATU has association with all cardiovascular risk factors and has better specificity and accurately for CVD risk than waist circumference and sagittal diameter. The values of 7cm for both sexes was the cut off lengths obtained by IATU to predict moderate CV risk; 8 and 9cm were the cut off length obtained by IATU to predict high CV risk for men and for women respectively. The IATU is a useful way to determine visceral fat and seems to be predictive of cardiovascular risk.
Intra abdominal thickness; Ultrasonography; Cardiovascular risk
