Evaluation of Clinical Findings in Patients with Coronary Slow Flow: Signs of Inflammation and Atherosclerosis

Introduction: Coronary slow fl ow is a phenomenon characterized by delayed of fl ow in epicardial coronary arteries in absence of stenosis : and its etiology is unclear. Hence, we aimed to investigate the risk factors of coronary slow fl ow. Patients and Methods: Thirty-eight patients with coronary slow fl ow (mean age 55 10) and 51 subjects with normal coronary fl ow (mean : age 54 11) were enrolled in this study. Demographic parameters, risk factors of cardiovascular disease, laboratory fi ndings, echocardiographic measurements include epicardial adipose tissue of study population were recorded. Comparisons of groups were performed by Mann-Whitney U or student-t tests for continuous variables and chi-square test for categorical variables. Linear regression analysis was performed for determined independent predictors of coronary slow fl ow. p values < 0.05 were accepted as statistically signifi cant. Results: Demographic parameters were similar in both groups except male ratio more in coronary slow fl ow group (60.5% vs. 31.4%, p= 0.006). Uric acid was higher in patients with coronary slow fl ow (5.7 1.1 mg/dL vs. 4.8 0.8 mg/dL; p= 0.001). Left ventricle end-systolic diameter (median 28 mm vs. 31 mm, p= 0.011) was higher and ejection fraction (median 59% vs. 64%, p= 0.001) was lower in coronary slow fl ow group. Epicardial adipose tissue [8.2 mm (3.5-14) vs. 6.2 (4-14), p= 0.001] and aortic root dimension were found higher in coronary slow fl ow group [30 mm (23-45) vs. 26 mm (18-37), p= 0.001]. Uric acid level, epicardial adipose tissue and aortic root dimension (= 2.14; = 1.49; = 1.38 p< 0.05 for each, respectively) were found independent risk factors of coronary slow fl ow. Conclusion: These results suggested that uric acid, epicardial adipose tissue and aortic root dimension that known related to infl amma-: tion and atherosclerosis are possible risk factors of coronary slow fl ow.