4 research outputs found
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Neck Circumference, Carotid Wall Intima-Media Thickness, and Incident Stroke
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Development and Reproducibility of a Computed Tomography–Based Measurement for Upper Body Subcutaneous Neck Fat
Background: Upper body subcutaneous neck fat (UBSF) is a unique fat depot anatomically separate from visceral abdominal fat that appears to be associated with cardiometabolic risk above and beyond generalized adiposity. We sought to develop a protocol to quantify UBSF using multidetector computed tomography measurements. Methods and Results: Protocol development was performed in participants from the Framingham Heart Study who had participated in the multidetector computed tomography scanning substudy, consisting of chest scans. Volumetric assessment of UBSF was defined by 40 contiguous 0.625‐mm slices superior to the body of the sternum. The reader manually traced the chest to identify total neck fat. Breast tissue exterior to the chest wall was excluded. Subcutaneous and visceral fat volumes were obtained using standard protocols. Age‐ and sex‐adjusted Pearson correlation coefficients were used to assess the association among UBSF, traditional adiposity measures, and cardiometabolic risk factors. Inter‐ and intrareader reproducibility was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients. Volumetric assessments were obtained in 92 participants because 8 scans were not readable (51% women; mean age: 59 years [women], 58 years [men]). The mean volume of UBSF was 310 cm3 for women and 345 cm3 for men. Intra‐ and interreader class correlation coefficients were 0.99 and 0.99, respectively. UBSF was correlated with waist circumference (r=0.90), neck circumference (r=0.75), body mass index (r=0.89), subcutaneous adipose tissue (r=0.87), and visceral adipose tissue (r=0.86). Conclusions: UBSF can be quantified reproducibly using computed tomography in a community‐dwelling sample from the Framingham Heart Study
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Association of Fat Density With Subclinical Atherosclerosis
Background: Ectopic fat density is associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors above and beyond fat volume. Volumetric measures of ectopic fat have been associated with CVD risk factors and subclinical atherosclerosis. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between fat density and subclinical atherosclerosis. Methods and Results: Participants were drawn from the Multi‐Detector Computed Tomography (MDCT) substudy of the Framingham Heart Study (n=3079; mean age, 50.1 years; 49.2% women). Fat density was indirectly estimated by computed tomography attenuation (Hounsfield Units [HU]) on abdominal scan slices. Visceral fat (VAT), subcutaneous fat (SAT), and pericardial fat HU and volumes were quantified using standard protocols; coronary and abdominal aortic calcium (CAC and AAC, respectively) were measured radiographically. Multivariable‐adjusted logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association between adipose tissue HU and the presence of CAC and AAC. Overall, 17.1% of the participants had elevated CAC (Agatston score [AS]>100), and 23.3% had elevated AAC (AS>age‐/sex‐specific cutoffs). Per 5‐unit decrement in VAT HU, the odds ratio (OR) for elevated CAC was 0.76 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.65 to 0.89; P=0.0005), even after adjustment for body mass index or VAT volume. Results were similar for SAT HU. With decreasing VAT HU, we also observed an OR of 0.79 (95% CI, 0.67 to 0.92; P=0.004) for elevated AAC after multivariable adjustment. We found no significant associations between SAT HU and AAC. There was no significant association between pericardial fat HU and either CAC or AAC. Conclusions: Lower VAT and SAT HU, indirect estimates of fat quality, are associated with a lower risk of subclinical atherosclerosis