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
Case Reports
. 2022 Nov;54(9):1189-1197.
doi: 10.1002/lsm.23604. Epub 2022 Oct 2.

Utility of high-resolution ultrasound in measuring subcutaneous fat thickness

Noor Anvery  1 , Hoi Ting Wan  1 , McKenzie A Dirr  1 , Rachel E Christensen  1 , Alexandra Weil  1 , Sabina Raja  1 , Kelly A Reynolds  1 , Rachel L Kyllo  1 , Inder Raj S Makin  2 , Emily Poon  1 , Murad Alam  1   3   4   5
Affiliations
Case Reports

Utility of high-resolution ultrasound in measuring subcutaneous fat thickness

Noor Anvery et al. Lasers Surg Med. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Objective: Previous studies conclude that high-resolution ultrasound (HRUS) enables noninvasive and accurate measurements of subcutaneous fat thickness. The primary objective of this cross-sectional study was to better characterize subcutaneous fat thickness measurements in a diverse patient population using HRUS. Secondarily, we sought to correlate these measurements with patients' body image.

Methods: A cross-sectional study to measure subcutaneous fat measurements at seven distinct anatomic sites, including upper and lower extremities, submental, and torso regions, in 40 men and women of different ages and races using HRUS. Independent t-tests and analysis of variance were performed to analyze findings.

Results: In our patient population, on average, women had thicker subcutaneous fat than men at all anatomic sites. Asian patients had significantly reduced fat thickness at peripheral anatomic sites, such as arms when compared to patients who identified as Black and Other (p = 0.05 and p = 0.008, respectively). Lastly, women reported decreased total body satisfaction at all anatomic sites when compared to men.

Conclusion: The information obtained and methods developed in this study may be utilized clinically during patient selection for fat reduction procedures, including for estimating the degree of likely benefit; for managing pathologies involving subcutaneous fat thickness alteration; and to monitor the progression of lipodystrophy secondary to disease or drugs.

Keywords: fat thickness; high-resolution ultrasound; measurements; noninvasive imaging; subcutaneous fat.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

REFERENCES

    1. Bhatta AK, Keyal U, Liu Y. Application of high resolution ultrasound in dermatology. Discov Med. 2018;26(145):237-42.
    1. Siahmed K, Berges O, Desjardins L, Lumbroso L, Brasseur G. Anterior segment tumor imaging: advantages of ultrasound (10, 20 and 50 MHz) and optical coherence tomography. J Fr Ophthalmol. 2004;27(2):169-73.
    1. Wolz M, Goss B, Baum C, Arpey C. Ultrasound and fine-needle aspiration in dermatology, underuse of minimally invasive, efficient diagnostic tools. Dermatol Surg. 2014;40(3):275-80. https://doi.org/10.1111/dsu.12430
    1. Petersen JR, Petersen S, Serup J. High-frequency ultrasound measurement of dermis and subcutaneous fat in the newborn infant. Skin Res Technol. 1995;1(2):86-9.
    1. Wagner DR, Thompson BJ, Anderson DA, Schwartz S. A-mode and B-mode ultrasound measurement of fat thickness: a cadaver validation study. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2019;73(4):518-23. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41430-018-0085-2

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources