Historical perspective: visceral obesity and related comorbidity in Joannes Baptista Morgagni's 'De sedibus et causis morborum per anatomen indagata'

Abstract

In recent years, advances in epidemiological approaches and laboratory technology, along with the availability of sophisticated imaging methods to evaluate body fat distribution, made it possible to define the close correlation between visceral fat accumulation and the occurrence of metabolic abnormalities, cardiovascular diseases and respiratory disturbances in obese patients. Some 250 y ago, JB Morgagni with the help of only a knife for anatomical dissection, an acute mind, and an observational skillfulness was able to identify the intra-abdominal and mediastinal fat accumulation in android obesity. He clearly described the association between visceral obesity, hypertension, hyperuricemia, atherosclerosis and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, long before the modern recognition of this syndrome.