title: Increased epicardial fat thickness is associated with cardiac functional changes in healthy women.
abstract: Epicardial fat tissue is a visceral fat depot with anatomical and functional contiguity to the myocardium and coronary arteries.  The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between epicardial fat thickness (EFT) and cardiac changes in healthy female subjects.  The study population consisted of ninety-six consecutive healthy female (mean age 31.1 ± 6.7 years) who underwent transthoracic echocardiography.  EFT was measured by echocardiography.  Subjects were divided into two groups according to the EFT; EFT < 6 mm and EFT ≥ 6 mm.  The cardiac structural changes, increased left atrial volume indices (LAVI) (41.2 ± 9.9 vs. 52.6 ± 12.5, p = 0.001) and left ventricular mass indices (LVMI) (129.6 ± 32.1 vs. 155.6 ± 31.6 p < 0.05), were observed in patients with increased EFT.  Myocardial tei index (MTI), which was used to evaluate both systolic and diastolic functions, was higher with increased EFT (0.44 ± 0.07 vs. 0.48 ± 0.08, p = 0.02).  The correlation analysis revealed significant correlation between EFT and each of LAVI (r = 0.312, p = 0.002), LVMI (r = 0.301, p = 0.003), body mass index (BMI) (r = 0.8, p < 0.001), and MTI (r = 0.27, p = 0.005).  Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated that EFT was associated with BMI (t = 5.28, p = 0.001), MTI (r = 2.39, p = 0.019), LVMI (r = 2.16, p = 0.01), and LAVI (r = 3.21, p = 0.002).  In conclusion, EFT is an important predictor of cardiac alterations in women who are prone to obesity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Tepecik Research and Training Hospital, Izmir, Turkey. kilicaslanbaris@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Baris
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kilicaslan
authors.forename: Oner
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Ozdogan
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Aydin
authors.forename: Huseyin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dursun
authors.forename: Ibrahim
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Susam
authors.forename: Faruk
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Ertas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002306:Cardiac Volume / Q000502:physiology*; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D050152:Intra-Abdominal Fat / Q000502:physiology*; D009200:Myocardial Contraction / Q000502:physiology*; D009929:Organ Size; D010496:Pericardium / Q000502:physiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis