DXA-measured visceral adipose tissue predicts impaired glucose tolerance and metabolic syndrome in obese Caucasian and African-American women.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: New methods to measure visceral adipose tissue (VAT) by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) may help discern sex, race and phenotype differences in the role of VAT in cardiometabolic risk. This study was designed (1) to compare relationships of DXA-VAT, anthropometric and body composition variables with cardiometabolic risk factors in obese women; (2) to determine which variables most robustly predict impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and metabolic syndrome (MetSx); and (3) to determine thresholds for DXA-VAT by race. SUBJECTS/METHODS: VAT mass (g) and volume (cm(3)) were measured in 229 obese (body mass index (BMI), 30-49.9) women aged 21-69 years of European-American (EA=123) and African-American (AA=106) descent using the CoreScan algorithm on a Lunar iDXA scanner. Linear regression modeling and areas under the curve (AUC of ROC (receiver operating characteristic) curves) compared relationships with cardiometabolic risk. Bootstrapping with LASSO (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) regression modeling determined thresholds and predictors of IGT and MetSx. RESULTS: DXA-VAT explained more of the variance in triglycerides, blood pressure, glucose and homeostatic model assessment-insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) compared with anthropometric and other body composition variables. DXA-VAT also had the highest AUC for IGT (0.767) and MetSx (0.749). Including race as a variable and the interaction between VAT and race in modeling did not significantly change the results. Thresholds at which the probability of developing IGT or MetSx was⩾50% were determined separately for AA women (IGT: 2120 cm(3); MetSx: 1320 cm(3)) and EA women (IGT: 2550 cm(3); MetSx: 1713 cm(3)). The odds for IGT or MetSx were fourfold greater with each standard deviation increase in DXA-VAT. CONCLUSIONS: DXA-VAT provides robust clinical information regarding cardiometabolic risk in AA and EA obese women and offers potential utility in the risk reduction interventions.

Prenatal diagnosis of duplication cyst of the pylorus.

The first description of the antenatal appearance of a duplication cyst of the pylorus is presented. Prior to the infant's delivery, the possibility that this intra-abdominal cystic mass represented a choledochal cyst was also strongly considered. The antenatal detection of this cystic mass allowed close neonatal surveillance and timely surgical intervention prior to the onset of serious neonatal complications. The embryogenesis of duplication cysts of the gastrointestinal tract and bronchopulmonary foregut malformations is reviewed. The clinical utility of the prenatal diagnosis of such fetal gastrointestinal anomalies is also discussed.

Conservative management of second-trimester post-amniocentesis fluid leakage.

During a 32-month period, 603 genetic amniocenteses were performed in our institution, and seven patients (1.2%) experienced fluid leakage within 24 hours of the procedure. All seven patients were hospitalized for strict bed rest and expectant management. Cessation of amniotic fluid leakage and reaccumulation of normal amniotic fluid occurred within 7 days in all cases. Six patients were delivered at term of appropriately grown infants without complication. One patient experienced an intrauterine death at 25 weeks' gestation (6 weeks after the occurrence of fluid leakage secondary to genetic amniocentesis). Although limited by the small number of patients, our experience suggests the following: 1) Appropriate respect for potential complications of genetic amniocentesis is still warranted; 2) expectant management of patients who experience membrane rupture after genetic amniocentesis may be associated with a good perinatal outcome; and 3) membrane rupture after genetic amniocentesis may represent a fundamentally different etiologic entity than spontaneous rupture of the membranes in the second trimester not associated with genetic amniocentesis.