MR imaging finds hidden intra-abdominal fat in teens

MRI has proven to be a reliable, fast, noninvasive means for assessing deep fat in adults. It can also be effective in high-risk pre-adolescents and adolescents, according to a study in the March issue of Radiology. Internal fat around the abdominal organs is potentially harmful and difficult to assess.

Dr. Marilyn J. Siegel and colleagues at Washington University's Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology in St. Louis assessed 20 boys and 10 girls between the ages of 10 and 18 who underwent single-section and whole-abdominal multisection MRI.

The investigators found that T1-weighted MRI measurements of abdominal adipose tissue corresponded with results from anthropometric assessment and dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (Radiology 242:846-856).