Intra-abdominal fat. Part I. The images of the adipose tissue localized beyond organs
Unaltered fat is a permanent component of the abdominal cavity, even in slim individuals. Visceral adiposity is one of the important factors contributing to diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and certain neoplasms. Moreover, the adipose tissue is an important endocrine and immune organ of complex...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Sciendo
2015-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Ultrasonography |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://jultrason.pl/index.php/issues/volume-15-no-62/intra-abdominal-fat-part-i-the-images-of-the-adipose-tissue-localized-beyond-organs?aid=376 |
| Summary: | Unaltered fat is a permanent component of the abdominal cavity, even in slim individuals.
Visceral adiposity is one of the important factors contributing to diabetes, cardiovascular
diseases and certain neoplasms. Moreover, the adipose tissue is an important endocrine
and immune organ of complex function both when normal and pathological. Its role in
plastic surgery, reconstruction and transplantology is a separate issue. The adipose tissue
has recently drawn the attention of research institutes owing to being a rich source of
stem cells. This review, however, does not include these issues. The identifi cation of fat
is relatively easy using computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. It can
be more diffi cult in an ultrasound examination for several reasons. The aim of this paper
is to present various problems associated with US imaging of unaltered intra-abdominal
fat located beyond organs. Based on the literature and experience, it has been demonstrated
that the adipose tissue in the abdominal cavity has variable echogenicity, which
primarily depends on the amount of extracellular fl uid and the number of connective
tissue septa, i.e. elements that potentiate the number of areas that refl ect and scatter
ultrasonic waves. The normal adipose tissue presents itself on a broad gray scale: from
a hyperechoic area, through numerous structures of lower refl ection intensity, to nearly
anechoic regions mimicking the presence of pathological fl uid collections. The features
that facilitate proper identifi cation of this tissue are: sharp margins, homogeneous structure,
high compressibility under transducer pressure, no signs of infi ltration of the surrounding
structures and no signs of vascularization when examined with the color and
power Doppler. The accumulation of fat tissue in the abdominal cavity can be generalized,
regional or focal. The identifi cation of the adipose tissue in the abdominal cavity using
ultrasonography is not always easy. When in doubt, the diagnostic process should be
extended to include computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, or sometimes
biopsy (preferably the core-needle one). |
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| ISSN: | 2084-8404 2451-070X |