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CT features of myocardial fat and correlation with clinical background in patients without cardiac disease

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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate the frequency and common locations of myocardial fat and its associated factors using coronary CT angiography (CCTA) in patients without cardiac disease.

Methods

Using CCTA findings for 298 consecutive patients without cardiac disease, we categorized the myocardium into nine locations, scored fat in those locations, and correlated the fat score with the thickness of the right ventricular (RV) free wall and factors including gender, age, and body mass index (BMI) as well as history of diabetes mellitus, hypertension (HT), and dyslipidemia.

Results

We observed myocardial fat in 68.5 % of patients, most commonly in the RV outflow tract (RVOT, 64.1 %), followed by the base (42.3 %) and middle (28.9 %) of the RV free wall, RV trabeculations (22.5 %), and the left ventricular apex (11.4 %). The RV free wall thickened significantly with increasing fat score. Dependent variables for myocardial fat were female gender (P < 0.0001), age ≥65 years (P = 0.0043), BMI ≥25 (P = 0.0050), and HT (P = 0.0139).

Conclusion

Myocardial fat is a common finding on CCTA in patients without cardiac disease, is often observed in the RVOT, and is more frequent in female patients, those older than 65 years, those with BMI ≥25, and those with HT.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Mr. Shin Takahashi for his assistance with statistical analysis and Ms. Rosalyn Uhrig for her English proofreading.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Diagnostic Radiology, Saitama Medical University International Medical Center, 1397-1 Yamane, Hidaka, Saitama, 350-1298, Japan

    Yuka Matsuo, Fumiko Kimura, Waka Mizukoshi, Eito Kozawa & Fumikazu Sakai

  2. Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Nuclear Medicine, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, 8-1 Kawada-cho, Shinju-ku, Tokyo, 162-8666, Japan

    Yuka Matsuo

  3. Department of Cardiology, Saitama Prefectural Circulatory and Respiratory Center, 1696 Itai, Kumagaya, Saitama, 360-0105, Japan

    Takatomo Nakajima

  4. Department of Radiology, Saitama Medical University Hospital, 38 Morohongo, Moroyama, Iruma-gun, Saitama, 350-0495, Japan

    Kaiji Inoue

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  1. Yuka Matsuo
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  2. Fumiko Kimura
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  3. Takatomo Nakajima
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Correspondence to Fumiko Kimura.

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Matsuo, Y., Kimura, F., Nakajima, T. et al. CT features of myocardial fat and correlation with clinical background in patients without cardiac disease. Jpn J Radiol 31, 444–454 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-013-0212-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-013-0212-x

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