Background:
The current clinical practice of defining obesity based on body mass index (BMI) does not capture differences in fat distribution between men and women. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) as measured by computed tomography (CT), is an advanced measure of obesity that closely correlates with cardiometabolic risk independent of BMI. However, it remains unknown whether VAT adds additional prognostic significance over BMI in men or women.
Methods:
In participants of the Framingham Heart Study, we tested the associations of BMI and VAT with incident cardiometabolic events (diabetes, hypertension, low HDL, hypertriglyceridemia), and incident cardiovascular events and death. Mean follow-up was 12.7±2.1 years. Logistic and Cox-regression models were adjusted for age and smoking and adjusted odds and hazard ratios (adj. OR, adj. HR), are presented per 1-SD increase of each measure of body fat.
Results:
The study cohort comprised 3,482 participants (48.1% women, 50.8±10.3 years old). In men, VAT, as compared to BMI, had a similar strength of association with all cardiometabolic outcomes and incident cardiovascular disease (Figure). In women, however, VAT conferred a markedly greater association with incident cardiometabolic and cardiovascular disease compared to BMI (Figure).
Conclusion and Relevance:
BMI adequately captures VAT-associated cardiometabolic and cardiovascular risk in men but not in women. In women, abdominal CT-based VAT measures permit more precise assessment of obesity-associated cardiometabolic and cardiovascular risk.
Relation of Subcutaneous and Visceral Adipose Tissue to Coronary and Abdominal Aortic Calcium (from the Framingham Heart Study)
