[The role and significance of sagittal abdominal diameter in the determination of adipose tissue distribution].

Up-to-now trials have pointed out the importance of determining the type of obesity because the central type of obesity is joined with glucose tolerance disturbance, hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance. The sagittal abdominal diameter proved to be the method of choice in routine clinical practice for visceral fat tissue detection. We examined a group of 60 females in whom, apart from standard measures (body weight, height, body mass index, perimeters of waist and hips), the sagittal abdominal diameter was measured by means of specially constructed caliper (Holtain Kahn Abdominal Caliper). Gathered parameters were compared with the results of an examination performed on 30 healthy females of normal body weight (control group). Results show a statistically significant higher sagittal abdominal diameter in females with central type of obesity in comparison to the control group, which points to greater quantity of visceral fat tissue in this type of obesity.