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BackgroundEpicardial fat, in addition to its secretory function, may have an important role in predicting and stratifying cardiovascular risk. There is a paucity of data regarding correlation between epicardial fat thickness and coronary artery disease in Egypt.Aim of the studyTo study the relationship between epicardial fat thickness (EFT) measured by trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE) and severity of coronary artery disease (CAD) and its distribution in Egyptian population.MethodsOur study was a prospective observational case control study that was conducted upon 150 patients with stable CAD presented to the cardiology departments in Ain Shams University hospitals and Al-Zaitoun Specialized hospital from March to October, 2015. EFT was measured by TTE for all patients at the same day of performing invasive coronary angiography (CA). We studied the statistical correlation between EFT and presence of CAD, also we tried to find if EFT is related to severity of CAD (according to Gensini score) or its distribution.ResultsThe study population was divided according to CA results to 2 groups; patients’ group having atherosclerotic CAD consisting of 100 patients and control group consisting of 50 patients with normal coronaries. All the well- known risk factors of CAD (male sex, smoking, hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, increased body mass index) were significantly more prevalent in the patients’ group. Patients had significantly lower systolic and diastolic functions. EFT was significantly correlated to presence of CAD (P < 0.001) with a cut-off value of 5.5 mm. EFT was significantly correlated to severity of CAD assessed by Gensini score (P < 0.001). Also we found a significant positive correlation between EFT and number of vessels affected (P <  0.001).ConclusionEFT is a good predictor of CAD severity and multivessel affection in Egyptian patients. It is also a potentially promising predictor for the presence of CAD.

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BackgroundPositive arterial remodeling may be a characteristic of early proliferative lesions. The study was done to identify the different morphological characteristics of the positively remodeled coronary lesions, and causing non-significant arterial stenosis, as detected by multislice computed tomography coronary angiography (MSCT CA) and its predictors of cardiovascular clinical events at 90-day follow-up. The study included 55 patients who were candidate for MSCT CA and found to have a single-vessel disease with less than 70% stenosis positively remodeled lesions. The most expansive or solitary lesion was selected for each patient. Positive remodeling defined as remodeling index (RI) > 1.05. We followed the patients clinically for 90 days.ResultsTwenty-four patients had a history of acute coronary syndrome at initial presentation with normal LV systolic function for all studied patients. Dyslipidemia was found in 37 patients (67.3%) while diabetes was found in 29 patients (52.7%). The majority of the lesions were found in the proximal LAD (43.6%). The mean calculated remodeling index was 1.41 ± 0.25. At the end of 90 days, 25 patients had clinical events in the form of unstable coronary syndromes, coronary interventions, or coronary angiography related to the index lesion. The predictors of clinical events were duration of DM, higher degree of luminal narrowing, calculated wall/lumen area percentage, plaque burden, plaque-specific calcification, and total calcium score at remodeling site as well as a lower percentage of low-attenuation plaque area. The mean calculated wall/lumen area percentage was 263.72 ± 122.71%. A cut-off value of > 226% was found a predictor for clinical events. The mean plaque burden percentage was 69.72 ± 9.71%, a value of > 69% was found a predictor for clinical events. Both values had a sensitivity of 68% and specificity of 86.6% and PPV of 81%. Positively remodeled lesions with a high RI > 1.4 were correlated with patients who had acute coronary syndrome on their initial presentation.ConclusionDifferent morphological characteristics of positively remodeled non-occlusive atherosclerotic plaques as detected by multislice CT coronary angiography may be good potential predictors of future cardiovascular events.

Objective: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is the main cause of cardiovascular events worldwide. AMI commonly occurs in elderly patients because of atherosclerotic process related to common risk factors. Consequently, the rupture of atheromatous plaque with deleterious sequela is the common etiology of the disease. However, there are less studied etiological factors in youth compared with the usual population. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the risk profile of Egyptian youth presenting with AMI. Methods: A study was conducted in 106 patients aged ≤45 years admitted with AMI in our university hospital to explore their clinical profile risk factors. Results: In the study, 71 (67%) and 35 (33%) patients presented with ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-STEMI (NSTEMI). Anterior wall MI was predominant in 49 patients (46.2%). Moreover, 93 patients (88%) were smokers, 31 (29.2%) used tramadol, 43 (40.6%) smoked cannabis, 50 (47.2%) had poor sleeping habits, 29 (27.4%) had high stress levels, 37 (34.9%) had hypertension, and 22 (20.8%) had diabetes. Twenty (18.9%) patients had a family history of premature coronary artery disease. High and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels were observed in 20 (18.9%) and 47 (44.3%) patients, respectively. The left anterior descending artery (LAD) was involved in 56% of the studied population associated with tramadol use. A significant association was found between both tramadol use and cannabis smoking and presence of heavy thrombus burden on coronary angiography. Conclusion: AMI in Egyptian youth was predominantly observed in men, with anterior STEMI as the most common presentation. Cannabis and tramadol addiction were high risk factors for AMI in Egyptian youth.

Background: Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is a form of abnormal coronary artery lumen dilatation associated with epicardial flow disturbances and microvascular dysfunction. QRS complex fragmentation (fQRS) in surface ECG is caused by abnormal depolarization due to myocardial ischemia and scarring. It has been proved in different studies to be positively correlated with adverse cardiac events. This study aimed to assess the role of fQRS as a noninvasive predictor of CAE and its anatomical distribution. A total of 100 patients referred for elective coronary angiography were included and divided into 2 groups: 50 patients with isolated CAE (group A) and 50 patients with angiographically normal coronaries (group B, control group). Both groups were compared regarding clinical, echocardiographic, and ECG characteristics. Results: Univariate analysis showed a significant correlation between male sex, smoking, diabetes mellitus, increased systolic blood pressure, fQRS, echocardiographic evidence of diastolic dysfunction, and CAE (P values of 0.005, 0.002, 0.016, 0.027, 0.0001, and 0.04, respectively). Multivariate regression analysis showed that fQRS is the most important independent predictor for the presence of CAE (P < 0.00001) with sensitivity 94%, specificity 88%, PPV 88.7%, and NPV 93.6%. We also found a significant correlation between fQRS distribution in surface ECG and anatomical distribution of CAE [increased territories with multivessel affection (P = 0.00001), anterior leads with LAD affection (P = 0.00001), lateral and inferior leads with LCX affection (P = 0.003 and 0.04, respectively), inferior leads with RCA affection (P = 0.00001)]. Conclusion: fQRS in surface ECG can potentially be used as an effective non-invasive method to predict isolated CAE and its anatomical distribution. Publisher's NoteSpringer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.