Epicardial fat measured by multidetector computed tomography and coronary artery disease

Abstract

Objective To assess the relationship between epicardial fat (EF) as well as pericoronary fat measured by multidetector computed tomography (CT) and coronary calcium score, and coronary artery disease (CAD). Background EF is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular events. CT is an accurate and highly reproducible method to measure EF and can be used as a noninvasive tool to assess the cardiovascular risk. Patients and methods The current study included 70 patients with suspected CAD (low-intermediate probability). All patients were subjected to 256-row multidetector CT coronary angiography scans and were divided into three groups: group 1: no atherosclerosis (20 patients), group 2: nonobstructive atherosclerosis (luminal narrowing Results Calcium score, the average EF thickness, and the average pericoronary fat thickness (PCFT) were significantly higher in group 3 compared with other groups (P Conclusion There was a positive correlation between both epicardial and PCFT and the severity of coronary stenosis. Epicardial and PCFT can be used in predicting the severity of CAD.