Liver fat percent is associated with metabolic risk factors and the metabolic syndrome in a high-risk vascular cohort

Abstract

Abstract Objective To determine whether liver fat percent (LFP) is associated with the metabolic syndrome independently of visceral fat area (VFA). Methods 43 High-risk vascular patients not on lipid-lowering therapy were evaluated for the Adult Treatment Panel III (ATPIII) metabolic syndrome criteria and underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to quantify VFA and subcutaneous fat area (SFA) at the L4-L5 disc and liver magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) to quantify LFP. Comparisons: 1. Baseline differences in patients with and without the metabolic syndrome 2. Forward binary logistic regression analysis of predictors of the metabolic syndrome with VFA, SFA and LFP as independents 3. Correlates of LFP. Results 43 patients were included in analysis. Patients with metabolic syndrome had greater VFA, SFA and LFP than patients without the metabolic syndrome (all p Conclusions LFP is associated with the metabolic syndrome and renders the current gold standard of VFA redundant in this analysis. This measure of obesity-related cardiovascular risk requires further validation and evaluation in a prospective cohort.