Epicardial adipose tissue thickness is an indicator for coronary artery stenosis in asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients: its assessment by cardiac magnetic resonance

• Main Authors: Kim Hyun, Kim Kwang, Lee Hye-Jeong, Yu Hee, Moon Jae, Kang Eun, Cha Bong, Lee Hyun, Lee Byung-Wan, Kim Young
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BMC 2012-07-01
• Series: Cardiovascular Diabetology
• Subjects: Epicardial adipose tissue; Cardiovascular magnetic resonance; Silent ischemia; Coronary artery stenosis; Type 2 diabetes
• Online Access: http://www.cardiab.com/content/11/1/83

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>We used cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) to investigate the association between epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness and silent myocardial ischemia, as well as coronary artery stenosis, in asymptomatic type 2 diabetic patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study included 100 type 2 diabetic subjects (51 male and 49 female; mean age: 56 ± 7 years). Silent myocardial ischemia, as determined by CMR, was defined as evidence of inducible ischemia or myocardial infarction. Signal reduction or stenosis of ≥ 50% in the vessel diameter was used as the criteria for significant coronary artery stenosis on coronary magnetic resonance (MR) angiography.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>EAT thickness was positively correlated with body mass index (BMI), waist-to-hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, postprandial glucose, fasting/postprandial triglyceride (TG), serum glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) level, and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) score. Significant coronary artery stenosis was found in 24 patients, while 14 patients had silent myocardial ischemia in CMR (1 with silent myocardial infarction, 11 with inducible ischemia, and 2 with both). EAT thickness was greater in patients who had coronary artery stenosis (13.0 ± 2.6 mm <it>vs.</it> 11.5 ± 2.1 mm, <it>p</it> = 0.01), but did not differ between the subjects with or without silent myocardial ischemia on CMR images (12.8 ± 2.1 <it>vs.</it> 11.7 ± 2.3 mm, <it>p</it> = 0.11). Multivariate logistic regression analysis indicated that EAT thickness was an independent indicator for significant coronary artery stenosis after adjusting for traditional risk factors (OR 1.403, <it>p</it> = 0.026).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Increased EAT thickness assessed by CMR is an independent risk factor for significant coronary artery stenosis in asymptomatic type 2 diabetes. However, EAT thickness was not associated with silent myocardial ischemia.</p>