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Introduction: Inappropriate body composition represents impaired energy and nutrient intake and can be a risk factor for many diseases, especially for cardiovascular disease. Different methods have been suggested for the estimation of body fat volume and its distribution. However, they may be either expensive or hazardous for some groups of patients. Sonography is a very accessible technique, which may be used for the evaluation of visceral and subcutaneous fat volume. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the sonographic prediction of body fat and its distribution in subcutaneous and visceral compartments.Methods: During a three-month period, we conducted sonographic evaluations for visceral and subcutaneous fat in 106 patients who were admitted to our hospital. The subcutaneous fat was measured at the para-umbilical region and visceral fat was measured in the right para-renal space. The results were compared with the data obtained from the body mass index (BMI) and bioelectric impedance analysis.Results: The mean age of the patients was 58.8 years, and the mean BMI was26.48 +/- 0.33. The mean values of fat percent and fat mass obtained by the electric-method were 31.07 +/- 0.81% and 22.12 +/- 0.68 kg, respectively. The respective mean values of subcutaneous and visceral fat obtained by sonography were 20.50+/-0.56 mm and 24.14 +/- 0.58 mm. The correlation between BMI and subcutaneous fat was 0.85 (p value < 0.0001) and the correlation between BMI and visceral fat was0.46 (p value < 0.0001).Conclusion: Sonography is a reliable and available method for the estimation of body fat and its distribution in cardiovascular patients, in subcutaneous and visceral compartments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The incidence of stroke after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is between 0.9% and 6.7%, which significantly increases in-hospital and out-hospital costs. This study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of significant carotid stenosis and its risk factors in CABG.Methods: In total, 2044 consecutive patients undergoing elective CABG were investigated through a pre-operative duplex scanning of the carotid arteries. The relation of age, sex, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and coronary disease with carotid stenosis was evaluated.Results: The prevalence of carotid stenosis was 7.6%. The multivariate analysis showed that age over 55 and left main coronary disease were significant independent risk factors for carotid stenosis. Female gender, smoking, hypertension, and diabetes were the risk factors in the univariate logistic regression model.Conclusion: Carotid stenosis is prevalent in CABG candidates. It seems that age >/=55 years and left main coronary disease are the independent risk factors for carotid stenosis in CABG patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]