Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 May-Jun;38(3):259-64.
doi: 10.1016/j.clinimag.2014.01.005. Epub 2014 Jan 17.

Assessment of liver fat in an obese patient population using noncontrast CT fat percent index

Ali F Jon  1 , Ahmad R Cheema  1 , Atif N Khan  1 , Vassilios Raptopoulos  1 , Thomas Hauser  1 , Imad Nasser  1 , Francine K Welty  1 , Andrew Karellas  2 , Melvin E Clouse  3
Affiliations

Assessment of liver fat in an obese patient population using noncontrast CT fat percent index

Ali F Jon et al. Clin Imaging. 2014 May-Jun.

Abstract

Objective: To develop a simplified method to quantify liver fat using computed tomography (CT) fat % index (CTFPI) compared to liver spleen method (CTL/S, CTL-S).

Methods: Noncontrast CT of the liver was performed in 89 patients (overweight, obese, severely obese) to quantify fat, using the following: CTFPI=[(65-patient HU)/65]×100, normal live r=65 HU.

Results: There was a strong linear correlation between CTFPI and the standard method of assessing liver fat using CTL/S (r=-0.901), CTL-S (r=-0.911). Hepatic HU and CTFPI were significantly different in the severely obese group compared to other two groups (P<.05).

Conclusion: Significant correlation indicates equal diagnostic accuracy of the two methods in appropriately calibrated scanners.

Keywords: Fat percent index; Hepatic steatosis assessment; Metabolic syndrome; NASH; Noncontrast CT; Obesity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure 1a: Correlation of liver spleen index (CTL/S) to liver fat percent index (CTFPI). Figure 1b: Correlation of liver spleen difference (CTL-S) to liver fat percent index (CTFPI).
Figure 1
Figure 1
Figure 1a: Correlation of liver spleen index (CTL/S) to liver fat percent index (CTFPI). Figure 1b: Correlation of liver spleen difference (CTL-S) to liver fat percent index (CTFPI).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Figure 2a: Correlation of liver aortic index (CTL/A) to liver fat percent index (CTFPI). Figure 2b: Correlation of liver aortic difference (CTL-A) to liver fat percent index (CTFPI).
Figure 3
Figure 3
Figure 3a: Comparison of Phantom HU values scanned at 120kVp and 135kVp Figure 3b: Comparison of Phantom fat% measured at 120kVp and 135kVp
Figure 4
Figure 4
CT (135 kVp) through the mid section of liver selected to include the spleen. Note areas of hypodensity consistent with focal fat deposits ranging from 23.8 ± 22 HU to 40.0 ±20 HU.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Kit BK, Flegal KM. Prevalence of obesity and trends in body mass index among US children and adolescents, 1999–2010. Jama. 2012;307:483–490. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Flegal KM, Carroll MD, Kuczmarski RJ, Johnson CL. Overweight and obesity in the United States: prevalence and trends, 1960–1994. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 1998;22:39–47. - PubMed
    1. Younossi ZM, Gramlich T, Liu YC, et al. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease: assessment of variability in pathologic interpretations. Mod Pathol. 1998;11:560–565. - PubMed
    1. Ludwig J, Viggiano TR, McGill DB, Oh BJ. Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis: Mayo Clinic experiences with a hitherto unnamed disease. Mayo Clin Proc. 1980;55:434–438. - PubMed
    1. Marchesini G, Bugianesi E, Forlani G, et al. Nonalcoholic fatty liver, steatohepatitis, and the metabolic syndrome. Hepatology. 2003;37:917–923. - PubMed