T-010 RELATIONS OF EPICARDIAL ADIPOSE TISSUE MEASURED BY MULTIDETECTOR COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY TO HYPERTENSION AND OTHER COMPONENTS OF THE METABOLIC SYNDROME ARE REGION-SPECIFIC AND INDEPENDENT OF ANTHROPOMETRIC INDEXES AND INTRA-ABDOMINAL VISCERAL FAT

Abstract

Subtitle Epicardial adipose tissue and hypertension. Background Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is a metabolically active visceral fat depot. Its distribution is asymmetrical and primarily concentrated in the grooves. We aimed to examine the correlations between various multidetector computed tomographic (MDCT) measurements of EAT and hypertension as well as other metabolic syndrome components. Methods This study included 148 consecutive patients undergoing MDCT prior to diagnostic coronary angiography. Thickness in the grooved segments, cross-sectional areas, and total volume of EAT were measured. The cross-sectional areas of subcutaneous and visceral abdominal fat depots were additionally measured in 70 randomly selected patients. Results Thickness of EAT in the left atrioventricular groove was the only EAT measurement significantly correlated with hypertension and the other metabolic syndrome components (lipid and glucose components) after age, gender, body-mass index, waist circumference, and intra-abdominal visceral fat area adjustments. EAT thickness in the left atrioventricular groove was most strongly correlated with glucose parameters (r ∼0.4), followed by lipid parameters (r ∼0.3) and blood pressure parameters (r ∼0.2). In addition to regional thickness of EAT, the intrathoracic adipose tissue volume was correlated with blood pressure and lipid parameters, but not with glucose parameters. By using the receiver-operating-characteristic analysis, the optimal cutoff point for left atrioventricular groove thickness to the presence of hypertension was 12.4 mm. Conclusions Hypertension, as well as other metabolic syndrome components, is associated with a significantly increased thickness of EAT in the left atrioventricular groove. The underlying pathophysiologic correlation merits further investigation.