Abstract 15567: Increased Visceral Fat Volume is Associated With Aortic Inflammation and Cardiovascular Events

Abstract

Introduction: While the relationship between obesity and cardiovascular disease (CVD) is well-established, mechanisms underlying this relationship are not well elucidated. Hypothesis: Our hypothesis is that visceral adipose tissue (VAT) volume, aortic inflammation and the risk of subsequent cardiovascular events are linked together. Methods: Individuals who underwent 18F-FDG PET/CT imaging were included. VAT volume, subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) volume and aortic FDG uptake were measured while blinded to clinical data. Cardiovascular events were adjudicated by independent cardiologists. Thereafter, the relationship between VAT volume and aortic FDG activity and cardiovascular events was evaluated using Cox proportional hazard models. Results: The final analysis included 415 patients with a median age of 55 (P25-P75: 45-65) years and a median BMI of 26.4 (P25- P75: 23.4-30.9) kg/m2. VAT and SAT volume were significantly higher in obese individuals. 32 subjects experienced cardiovascular event during a median follow-up of 4 years. Cox proportional hazard models showed that VAT volume was a associated with cardiovascular events (hazard ratio, HR (95% CI): 1.15 (1.06-1.25, p<0.001). This remained significant after correcting for age, BMI and aortic TBR (p<0.05). SAT was not predictive of cardiovascular events. VAT volume was associated with arterial inflammation (r=0.29, p<0.001, Figure 1). The combination of high aortic inflammation and high VAT volume was associated with significant worse survival (p<0.05). Conclusions: We observed that VAT volume is a predictor of subsequent cardiovascular events. Moreover, our results indicate a link between visceral adipose tissue volume and arterial inflammation, which may explain some of VAT's association with cardiovascular events.