title: Increased epicardial adipose tissue thickness is linked to aortic stiffness in patients with primary hypertension.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In patients with hypertension (HT), increased aortic stiffness is related to higher cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Recent investigations have shown that epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is a new potential cardiometabolic risk factor. The aim of our study was to examine the relation between echocardiographically measured EAT thickness and aortic stiffness in patients with primary HT.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study included 144 newly diagnosed and untreated essential hypertensive outpatients. Transthoracic echocardiographic EAT thickness and aortic stiffness measurements were performed for all study participants. Afterwards patients were divided in two groups according to their median EAT thickness values. The patients with EAT thickness of < 7 mm were included in group 1 and patients with EAT thickness of ≥ 7 mm were included in group 2.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Aortic strain and distensibility parameters of group 2 were lower than in group 1. The aortic stiffness index of group 2 was found to be higher than group 1. Multivariate regression analysis revealed that EAT thickness was the only independent variable for all three parameters of aortic stiffness index, aortic strain and aortic distensibility.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In patients with newly diagnosed primary HT, increased EAT thickness was significantly linked to impaired aortic elastic properties independently of other conventional adiposity measurements.
authors: Ministry of Health Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Research and Educational Hospital, Department of Cardiology , Ankara , Turkey.
authors: Mehmet
authors: M
authors: Doğan
authors: Osman
authors: O
authors: Turak
authors: Ahmet
authors: A
authors: Akyel
authors: Enis
authors: E
authors: Grboviç
authors: Mehmet Ali
authors: MA
authors: Mendi
authors: Fatih
authors: F
authors: Oksüz
authors: Aynur
authors: A
authors: Doğan
authors: Tolga
authors: T
authors: Cimen
authors: Murat
authors: M
authors: Bilgin
authors: Hamza
authors: H
authors: Sunman
authors: Ekrem
authors: E
authors: Yeter
authors: Sinan
authors: S
authors: Aydoğdu
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D004452:Echocardiography / Q000379:methods*; D000075222:Essential Hypertension; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D010496:Pericardium / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012307:Risk Factors; D059289:Vascular Stiffness
keywords: Aortic stiffness; epicardial adipose tissue; hypertension