Objective To study the value on clinical application using IDEAL-IQ sequence fat fraction to accurately quantifying abdominal fat volume.
Methods The waistline and weight of 82 patients who underwent IDEAL-IQ sequence examination in Shenzhen Bao′an District Central Hospital from May 2018 to September 2020 were collected retrospectively. The fat fraction obtained from the sequence were processed by AW4.6 post-processing workstation Reformat function. The visceral fat and subcutaneous fat at L2 and L3 vertebral levels were extracted semi-automatically, and the sum of two was the corresponding abdominal fat volume.
Results The age, weight, waistline of 82 patients was (40.4±10.9) years old, (74.9±9.5)kg, (92.9±8.9)cm. The visceral fat volume at L2 vertebral level was (555.33±177.38)cm3, the volume of subcutaneous fat was (497.59±207.53)cm3, and the volume of abdominal fat was (1052.91±305.81)cm3. The volume of visceral fat at L3 vertebral level was (552.50±184.39)cm3, the volume of subcutaneous fat was (564.01±213.65)cm3, and the volume of abdominal fat was (1086. 51±330.24)cm3. The abdominal fat volume at L2 and L3 level was moderately correlated with weight (r=0.629, 0.671, P<0.01). There was a strong correlation between abdominal fat volume and waistline at L2 and L3 level (r=0.771, 0.805, P<0.01).
Conclusion IDEAL-IQ sequence equiped with post-processing function, which is fast accurate, noninvasive and safe, provides a semi-automatic technique to accurately quantify body fat content. It is expected to replace traditional CT scanning and become a better options for observation and follow-up for body fat content and distribution.