Ideal cardiovascular health metrics and epicardial adipose tissue volume in a Northern Chinese population: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Coronary artery disease, fatty liver disease, cardiac abnormalities, the metabolic syndrome, and insulin resistance may all occur in association with an increase of epicardial adipose tissue volume (EATV). Previous studies have shown that some cardiovascular-risk factors and healthy behaviors were related to a lower risk of EATV increase. The main purpose of this study was to determine whether ideal cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics were correlated with the prevalence of high EATV. METHODS: The study commenced across 2013 and 2014 and involved volunteers from the Jidong (East Hebei) district. A cohort of 2,482 participants aged 45 years or older were randomly selected, of which 49.9% were women and none were diagnosed as having cancer, stroke, or heart diseases such as atrial fibrillation, heart failure, or myocardial infarction. The study collected information concerning seven CVH metrics; namely body mass index, dietary intake, smoking, blood pressure, physical activity, total cholesterol, and fasting blood glucose, and evaluated EATV based on computed tomography. Finally, an analysis of the relationship between ideal CVH metrics and the prevalence of high EATV was made applying multiple logistic regression. RESULTS: On the basis that age, gender, and other potential confounding factors are adjusted, comparing the participants having an ideal CVH index of 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6-7 with those having a 0-1 metric, the adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) of high EATV were as follows: 0.893 (0.468-1.705), 0.581 (0.316-1.069), 0.368 (0.202-0.670), 0.218 (0.119-0.400), and 0.161 (0.085-0.306) (P trend less than 0.0001). Similar negative correlations were also seen in other cases of different age groups and gender groups, where all P trends were less than 0.0001. CONCLUSIONS: The number of ideal CVH metrics in the northern Chinese population is negatively correlated with the prevalence of high EATV, supporting the greater use of EATV as a useful parameter in clinical practice.