title: The relationship between location-specific epicardial adipose tissue volume and coronary atherosclerotic plaque burden in type 2 diabetic patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is a metabolically active visceral fat depot that plays an important role in the pathogenesis of coronary atherosclerosis. Due to its asymmetrical distribution, the relation between location-specific EAT measurements and coronary atherosclerosis remains unclear. Our study investigated the relationship between location-specific EAT volume and coronary atherosclerotic plaque burden that was detected by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) in type 2 diabetic patients without coronary artery disease (CAD) history.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 157 consecutive diabetic patients who had undergone CCTA were included retrospectively. After evaluation of the CCTA images, the study population was divided into two groups according to the presence of coronary atherosclerosis. In both groups, total and left atrioventricular groove EAT volumes were measured.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Total and left atrioventricular groove EAT volumes were significantly associated with coronary atherosclerosis, but only left atrioventricular groove EAT volumes were an independent predictor for CAD. Also, total and left atrioventricular groove EAT volumes were positively correlated with C-reactive protein values (p = 0.0001/p = 0.0001) and the number of coronary atherosclerotic segments (p = 0.0001/p = 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Left atrioventricular groove EAT volume is an independent predictor of CAD in type 2 diabetic patients without CAD history. Left atrioventricular groove EAT volume may be used to identify type 2 diabetic patients who may require early CAD intervention because of the potential risk of coronary atherosclerosis.
authors.affiliation: Cardiology Department, Istanbul Mehmet Akif Ersoy Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey. uygurbegum@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Begum
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Uygur
authors.forename: Omer
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Celik
authors.forename: Derya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Ozturk
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Erturk
authors.forename: Hafize
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Otcu
authors.forename: Fethi Emre
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Ustabasıoglu
authors.forename: Aydın
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yıldırım
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000473:pathology*; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009929:Organ Size; D010496:Pericardium / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein
keywords: coronary artery disease; epicardial adipose tissue; type 2 diabetes mellitus