Association of Epicardial Adipose Tissue with Essential Hypertension: A Meta-Analysis

Background and aims: Increased epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) has been proposed as a risk factor for essential hypertension (EH). The aim of this study was to investigate the association of EAT with EH. Methods and results: PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane databases were systematically reviewed to identify relevant studies assessing the association of EAT thickness (EAT-t) and volume (EAT-v) with EH. There were 39 observational studies and 8,983 subjects included in the meta-analysis. The analysis indicated that hypertensive patients had a higher mean of EAT-t (SMD=0.64, 95% CI: 0.44-0.83, p<0.001) and EAT-v (SMD: 0.69, 95% CI:0.34-0.1.05, p<0.001) than normotensive individuals. Accordingly, we calculated pooled odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association of EAT with EH, and the results showed that EAT-t (OR: 1.59, 95% CI: 1.09–2.33, P<0.001) and EAT-v (OR: 1.82, 95% CI: 1.33–2.19, P<0.001) were associated with essential hypertension. Additionally, higher mean of EAT-t (SMD=0.85, 95% CI=0.49-0.1.21, p<0.001) and EAT-v (SMD=0.83, 95% CI=0.31-1.34, p=0.002) were found in non-dipper hypertensive patients than those in dipper patients, but we didn’t find significant difference in EAT-t among patients with different grades of hypertension. We also investigated the association of EAT with complications in hypertensive patients, and the results showed that EAT was increased in patients with arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) or cardiac hypertrophy and dysfunction than those without. Conclusions: The increase in EAT was associated with the occurrence and complications of EH. The findings provide new information regarding the occurrence and complications of EH.