title: Correlation of epicardial fat and anthropometric measurements in Asian-Indians: A community based study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  It is increasingly evident that visceral adipose tissue plays a leading role in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome. Unfortunately, accurate quantification of intra-abdominal visceral fat is cumbersome and expensive. Epicardial fat represents the component of visceral fat distributed around the heart, and is readily and non-invasively assessed by echocardiography.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the correlation of epicardial fat with anthropometric parameters in a healthy population of Asian-Indians.
  
  
  METHODS
  A prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted as part of a community outreach program from December to March 2011. Individuals over 18 years of age were included in the study. Anthropometric data was collected for all patients. Epicardial fat was assessed in parasternal long and short axes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  350 healthy individuals were included in the study. Of them, 66.7% were males. Mean age was 42.7 ± 15.3 years (range 18-84). Mean body-mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were 23.3 ± 4.5 kg/m(2) (range 15.2-34.3) and 80.2 ± 13.3 cm (range 43-115) respectively. Mean epicardial fat in both axes was 2.6 ± 1.3 mm (range 0.3-7.0). Epicardial fat measured in both axes correlated well with weight (r = 0.399, P < 0.001), waist circumference (r = 0.522, P < 0.001) and BMI (r = 0.471, P < 0.001). Epicardial fat also correlated with age (r = 0.559, P < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is an excellent correlation between epicardial fat measured by echocardiography and anthropometric parameters of metabolic syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal, India.
authors.forename: Ranjan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Shetty
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vivek
authors.forename: Kushal
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Naha
authors.forename: Krishnananda
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Goyal
authors.forename: Lorraine S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Dias
keywords: Anthropometric measurements; epicardial fat; metabolic syndrome visceral fat