Visceral Fat as a Useful Parameter in the Differential Diagnosis of Crohn's Disease and Intestinal Tuberculosis.
- Author:
Jun Kwon KO
1
;
Hang Lak LEE
;
Jin Ok KIM
;
Soon Young SONG
;
Kang Nyeong LEE
;
Dae Won JUN
;
Oh Young LEE
;
Dong Soo HAN
;
Byung Chul YOON
;
Ho Soon CHOI
;
Joon Soo HAHM
;
Sang Yeon KIM
Author Information
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords: Crohn's disease; Intra-abdominal fat
- MeSH: Abdominal Fat; Adipose Tissue; Crohn Disease*; Diagnosis; Diagnosis, Differential*; Humans; Hypertrophy; Intra-Abdominal Fat*; Male; Retrospective Studies; Sensitivity and Specificity; Subcutaneous Fat; Tomography, X-Ray Computed; Tuberculosis*
- From:Intestinal Research 2014;12(1):42-47
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND/AIMS: Because of the similarities in the clinical presentations of Crohn's disease (CD) and intestinal tuberculosis (ITB), differential diagnosis is critical. Mesenteric adipose tissue hypertrophy and creeping fat are characteristic features of CD. The purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of visceral fat for the differential diagnosis of CD and ITB. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of 50 patients with findings of CD or ITB between January 2005 and July 2008. Abdominal computed tomography (CT) was performed on all subjects during their first evaluation. The abdominal fat area was assessed using quantitative abdominal CT. RESULTS: The ratio of visceral fat to total fat (VF/TF) was significantly higher in male CD patients than in male ITB patients. The ratio of visceral fat to subcutaneous fat (VF/SF) was also higher in CD patients than in patients with ITB. For a VF/TF cut-off value of 0.46, the sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of CD were 42.1% and 93.3% respectively, with positive and negative predictive values of 88.9% and 56.0%, respectively. CONCLUSION: Measurement of the abdominal fat area using CT can be clinically useful for the differential diagnosis of CD and ITB.
