Correlation between Epicardial Adipose Tissue Volume and Coronary Artery Disease Incidence in A Group of Patients Complaining of Chest Pain

Abstract Background: Coronary artery disease is associated with many risk factors; one of them is the regional fat distribution that was found to play an important role in the development of atherosclerosis, vascular dysfunction as well as inflammatory promotion [1]. The current study analyses the long standing clinical impact of increased EAT volume evaluated by CT in a group of personnel without any previous documentation of having CAD [2]. Aim of Study: The aim of this study is to evaluate the relation between the volume of the epicardial adipose tissue versus incidence and severity of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD); thus depicting the association between their occurrence, if any. Patients and Methods: Fifty patients presented by chest pain showing suspicious symptoms of CAD were investigated by coronary artery CTA on Toshiba 640 CT scan during nine months duration. A pre-contrast study was performed for each patient followed by standard coronary artery CTA protocol. Image processing and measurements were done on Toshiba 640 work station where measurements were performed at the mid-diastolic phase using retrospective cardiac gating about 75% of PR interval. The data were analyzed independently by two consultant radiologists with experience of 10 to 20 years in cardiac imaging. Results: The estimated epicardial adipose tissue volume ranged from 30 to 226 CM3 with mean of 93Cm 3±50.7SD and median of 92.5cm3. The least Agatstone CA scoring was 0, and the maximum one was 1400, while estimated mean was 253±383 SD. Pearson correlation revealed significant correlation be-tween EAT volume and each of calcium scoring and CAD severity.
Receiver operator characteristic curves were performed for the coronary artery disease as well as both EAT and CA scoring as etiological factors revealing statistically significant results. Conclusion: Although the epicardial tissue fat has a protective, immuno-modulator buffering effect, the EATV was found to be proportional to the incidence of CAD and could be used as a bad prognostic factor for coronary artery disease. Conflicts of Interest: None.