Abstract 11539: Impact of Adipose Tissue Composition on Cardiovascular Risk Assessment

Abstract

Background: Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) , unlike subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT), has been shown to be highly correlated with cardiovascular risk factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of adipose tissue composition measured by computed tomography for cardiovascular outcome. Method: 369 consecutive patients without history of cardiovascular disease who underwent 64-slice computed tomography angiography (CTA) were recruited. The ratio of visceral adipose tissue to the total adipose tissue (%VAT) was calculated as VAT/ (VAT + SAT) х 100. Patients were divided into three groups in accordance with tertiles of %VAT (tertile1, <35.1%; tertile2, 35.1 to 45.0%; tertile3, 45.1%≤). The investigated risk factors were hypertension, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia. We analyzed the incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE), including cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, and any revascularization. Result: The rate of patients who have two or more concomitant risk factors was significantly increased across tertiles of %VAT (p=0.001). During the median follow-up of 1973 days, 96 events occurred. Event-free survival was significantly associated with %VAT tertiles, with worse event-free survival in tertile 3 (log-rank p=0.001). In Cox analysis, the hazard ratio (HR) of %VAT (per tertile) for MACE was 1.39 (95% confident interval [CI] 1.05-1.82, p=0.02). Among patients with tertile 3, HR for MACE was 1.81 (95% CI 1.01-3.23, p=0.045) compared to tertile 1 after adjustment for confounding factors. Conclusion: %VAT is independently associated with MACE, indicating that adipose tissue composition is a useful predictor of cardiovascular outcome.