The Cardiovasculer Risk Prediction of Epicardial Fat Thickness in Metabolic Syndrome Patients

Introduction: Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is a visceral adipose tissue surrounding heart and coronary arteries. It is shown to be associated with increased cardiovascular disease risk and mortality. Here, we aimed to search for the relationship between Framingham-10-year-coronary heart disease risk and epicardial fat thickness (EFT) in metabolic syndrome (MetS) patients. Methods: A total of 35 patients, 25 female and 10 male, with MetS were included in the study. Cardiac risk factors (age, gender, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein [HDL] cholesterol, smoking, systolic blood pressure [BP], and medication) determined by Framingham Heart Study were screened to use Framingham-10-year-coronary heart disease risk tool to assess the cardiovascular risk. EFT was measured with two-dimensional (2D) echocardiography. Results were evaluated using SPSS. Results: BP was normal in 62.9%, in upper normal range in 28.6% and high in 8.6% of the patients. There was positive correlation between EAT and waist circumference (WC) and no correlation between age, fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglyceride (TG), HDL, total cholesterol, N/L ratio, Framingham risk score (FRS), and EAT. There was statistically significant difference in BP groups for TG, WC, and FRS but no difference for other parameters evaluated. Mean WC, N/L ratio, and FRS were statistically significant higher in men compared to women. Discussion and Conclusion: Relation of EFT and MetS is shown in literature. Although EFT is not found to predict the cardiovascular risk in MetS in our study; smoking, HT and male gender are related to increased cardiovascular risk and this finding might help to determine the treatment priorities to prevent further cardiac damage in MetS patients.