Epicardial adipose tissue predicts carotid intima-media thickness independently of body mass index and waist circumference

Abstract

Background: Visceral obesity is strongly associated with atherosclerosis. Even though waist circumference (WC) is the most common assessment method of total visceral adipose tissue and cardiometabolic risk, this method lacks direct measurement of adipose tissue and has better correlation to subcutaneous fat rather than visceral fat. We intended to investigate whether epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is clinically superior to body mass index (BMI) and WC in predicting Framingham risk score (FRS) and carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT). Methods: Our study included 331 patients who were admitted to our outpatient clinic for risk factor assessment. We calculated BMI, FRS, and WC, and the patients underwent echocardiographic and carotid examinations to measure EAT and CIMT. the metabolic syndrome (MS) score was calculated by summing the MS risk factor scores. Results: the area under the curve values of EAT were similar to FRS and higher than those of weight, BMI, and WC for both increased CIMT and the presence of carotid plaque. Male gender, age, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol level, and EAT thickness were independent predictors of CIMT, whereas male gender, age, WC, uric acid concentration, and EAT significantly predicted the presence of carotid plaque. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) has a stronger correlation with CIMT than BMI and WC, and it was a significant predictor of increased CIMT and the presence of carotid plaque. Additional data are required to clarify the diagnostic and therapeutic role of EAT in managing obese patients, and to decrease their cardiometabolic risk.