CHANGES IN EPICARDIAL FAT THICKNESS IN PATIENTS WITH HYPERTENSION AND PAROXYSMAL FORM OF ATRIAL FIBRILLATION

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the changes of the epicardial fat thickness in hypertensive patients with paroxysmal form of atrial fibrillation (AF). Design and method: The study involved 80 obese patients with hypertension aged from 38 to 77 years. Patients were divided into 2 groups: 40 hypertensive patients with paroxysmal form of AF in sinus rhythm and obesity (Group I) and 40 obese patients with hypertension (Group II). There were no significant differences in body mass index between studied groups. All patients had echocardiography to evaluate the epicardial fat thickness (EFT) around the left atrium. Waist circumference, abdominal sagittal diameter, waist-to-hip and waist-to-height ratios were assessed to evaluate the visceral adiposity. Results: There was a significant increase of anthropometric indicators of visceral adiposity in the group of hypertensive patients with paroxysmal form of AF: the waist-to-hip ratio in I group was 1.37 ± 0.09 and 0.84 ± 0.06 in II group (p = 0.04); the waist-to-height ratio in I group and in II group was 0.8 ± 0.02 and 0.69 ± 0.01 respectively (p = 0.0012); abdominal sagittal diameter in I group and in II group was 37.98 ± 1.26 and 31.85 ± 0.85 respectively (p = 0.03). There was a strong positive correlation between EFT and waist-to-hip ratio in group of patients with hypertension and paroxysmal form of AF (r = 0.583, p = 0.002). Also, there was a positive correlation between EFT and waist-to-height ratio (r = 0.328, p = 0.035) and between abdominal sagittal diameter and EFT (r = 0.673, p = 0.001) in I group. Conclusions: Positive correlations between increased EFT and anthropometric indicators confirms the role of visceral obesity in the development of AF.