Correlation between Peri-Coronary Epicardial Adipose Tissue Volume, Cardiac Calcification and the Severity of Coronary Artery Disease by Multi Slice Computed Tomography

Abstract

besity is associated with insulin resistance and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. However, the risk of these depends on adipose tissue distribution in the body, and mainly on the increase and ectopic accumulation of visceral fat. Increased visceral adipose tissue (VAT) not only involves greater adipocyte size, but also an increased expression of pro-inflammatory adipocytokines with harmful effects at both local and systemic levels. The quantification of VAT has therefore gained importance in recent years because it allows for a better stratification of both individual and overall cardio metabolic risk. Recently, scientific interest has focused on the study of certain extra-abdominal visceral fat deposits, including epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), which because of its close relation to the myocardium and coronary arteries has provided a new understanding of the association between obesity and cardiovascular disease. This review article will address the morphological, biochemical, and clinical characteristics that make EAT a valuable tool for the comprehensive evaluation of cardiovascular risk. True volume assessment of EAT is feasible using cardiac CT. The three dimensional (3D) image reconstruction with multidetector-row CT (MDCT) has the best