A novel technique to standardize volumetric quantification of periaortic adipose tissue [abdominal periaortic adipose tissue (AAT) and thoracic periaortic adipose tissue (TAT)] by computed tomography has been developed using a random sample of the Framingham Heart Study (n=100). The intra- and inter-observer reproducibility for both AAT and TAT was excellent. Both ATT and TAT were highly correlated with intra-abdominal (visceral) adipose tissue and also moderately correlated with subcutaneous adipose tissue, waist circumference and body mass index. Therefore, standardized semiautomatic computed tomography-based volumetric quantification of periaortic adipose tissue is feasible and reproducible. Whether it is associated with other body fat depots, cardiovascular disease risk factors and clinical outcomes warrants further investigation.
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