title: Epicardial adipose tissue is associated with extensive coronary artery lesions in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting: an observational study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between the epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) volume measured by 256-slice dual source computed tomography (DSCT) and the complexity with the presence of significant coronary artery disease (CAD) in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG).
  
  
  METHODS
  Study subjects were enrolled as they were undergoing DSCT for coronary evaluation. Two subgroups were formed according to coronary artery bypass history: Group A (patients with significant CAD), Group B (patients with normal coronary arteries). In both groups, EAT volume was measured by DSCT with the same technique. The complexity of CAD was assessed by using Syntax score (SxS). Group A patients were subdivided into two groups according to these results (Group A1, A2).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Ninety-three patients (53 male, 40 female) with a mean age of 55.1 years were enrolled in the study (48 in group A and 45 in Group B). The serum levels of fasting plasma glucose (FPG), total cholesterol (TC) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) were found statistically higher in Group A. In Group A, mean EAT volume was 44.87±21.28 cm(3) while it was in normal range (32.37±17.50 cm(3)) in control group (p=0.003). Higher EAT volume was found to be related to FPG (r=0.242, p=0.015) and body surface area (BSA) (r =0.268, p=0.009) and also correlated positively with CAD. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between subgroups when considering the complexity of CAD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data shows that increased EAT volume is associated with significant CAD. EAT volume contributes to the development of coronary lesions, but it does not affect the complexity of the lesions.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Istanbul Mehmet Akif Ersoy Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kaya
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Istanbul Mehmet Akif Ersoy Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yeniterzi
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Istanbul Mehmet Akif Ersoy Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Pınar
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Yazici
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology, Istanbul Mehmet Akif Ersoy Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mustafa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Diker
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Istanbul Mehmet Akif Ersoy Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Celik
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Istanbul Mehmet Akif Ersoy Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ertürk
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Istanbul Mehmet Akif Ersoy Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ihsan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Bakir
keywords: coronary artery bypass surgery; dual source computed tomography; epicardial adipose tissue