Association of epicardial fat thickness with left ventricular diastolic function parameters in a community population

Abstract

Background We examined the relationship between epicardial fat thickness (EFT) measured by echocardiography and left ventricular diastolic function parameters in a Beijing community population. Methods We included 1004 participants in this study. Echocardiographic parameters including E and A peak velocity, the early diastolic velocities (e′) of the septal and lateral mitral annulus using tissue doppler imaging, E/e′, and EFT were measured. EFT1 was measured perpendicularly on the right ventricular free wall at end diastole in the extension line of the aortic root. EFT2 was the maximum thickness measured perpendicularly on the right ventricular free wall at end diastole. Multivariable linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between EFT and the mean e′ and E/e′. Results The mean age of the participants was 63.91 ± 9.02 years, and 51.4% were men. EFT1 and EFT2 were negatively correlated with lateral e′, septal e′, and mean e′ (p < 0.05), and the correlation coefficient for EFT1 and EFT2 and mean e′ was − 0.138 and − 0.180, respectively. EFT1 and EFT2 were positively correlated with lateral E/e′, septal E/e′, and mean E/e′ (p < 0.05), and the correlation coefficient for EFT1 and EFT2 and mean e′ was 0.100 and 0.090, respectively. Multivariable egression analysis showed that EFT2 was independently and negatively associated with e′ mean (β = − 0.078 [95% confidence interval = − 0.143, − 0.012, p = 0.020]). There were no interactions between EFT2 and any covariates, including age or heart groups, sex, BMI, or presence of hypertension, diabetes, or coronary heart disease, in relation to left ventricular diastolic dysfunction. Conclusions EFT2 was negatively and independently associated with e′ mean, which suggests that more attention to this type of adipose fat is required for cardiovascular disease therapy.

Transient elastography and serum markers of liver fibrosis associate with epicardial adipose tissue and coronary artery calcium in NAFLD

“…Moreover, we simultaneously evaluated EAT which is considered an earlier subrogate marker of CVD, mediator of cardiac arrhythmias 12 and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction 13 . In 2013, Mahabadi et al 27 determine that EAT predicted MACE in the general population in participants from the prospective population-based Heinz Nixdorf Recall cohort (n = 4093 participants, age 59.4 years, 47% male) during a follow-up period of 8.0 ± 1.5 years.…”

“…Systemic inflammation and oxidative stress support subclinical organ dysfunction and gradually contributes to the development and progression of atherosclerosis 32 , 32 . Furthermore, the secretion of proinflammatory cytokines from EAT reinforces the prevailing systemic proinflammatory activity, which in turn results in pathological changes of the coronary arteries 10 , 10 and/or structural changes of the contiguous myocardium which can eventually lead to the development of cardiac arrhythmias 12 and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction 13 . In summary, AT dysfunction 39 and IR 34 are important mechanisms linking both entities, although, additional mechanisms, like dysbiosis and genetic susceptibilities, may interplay a role in the pathophysiology of NAFLD and CVD 32 , 32 .…”

“…Coronary artery calcium (CAC) 8 , 8 and epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) 10 , 10 are considered surrogate markers of coronary artery disease and have significantly improved the cardiovascular risk classification in asymptomatic individuals 8 – 11 . EAT is a novel clinical biomarker not only associated with accelerated progression of subclinical coronary atherosclerosis 10 , 10 , but also mediator of cardiac arrhythmias 12 , left ventricular diastolic dysfunction 13 , and stroke 14 . EAT has important physiological functions 15 , nonetheless, excessive EAT leads to a proinflammatory state with adverse effects on the myocardium.…”

Cardiometabolic characterization in metabolic dysfunction–associated fatty liver disease

“…EATi is considered an earlier and improved subrogate marker of CVD in patients without CAC ( 39 ), mediator of cardiac arrhythmias ( 40 ) and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction ( 41 ). Thus, our findings may be an important addition to prior knowledge and highlight the potential of MAFLD definition in clinical practice as it considers metabolic abnormalities, rather than just BMI.…”

Relationship of Abdominal Perimeter with Epicardial and Pericardial Fat

“…Diastolic heart failure is one of the major causes of morbidity and mortality and is preceded by left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction, and is often associated with obesity and/or diabetes Mellitus 2 . (De Wit-Verheggen et al, 2020;DeFronzo et al, 2015;Fontes-Carvalho et al, 2015;Ma et al, 2021;Son et al, 2016) In several studies, the importance of evaluating LV diastolic function in a timely manner in order to prevent undesirable outcomes is addressed. The awareness that about half of the individuals with signs and symptoms of heart failure did not have systolic dysfunction, but diastolic dysfunction, alerted to the need for an assertive and timely diagnosis of this clinical condition.…”