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Increased Regional Epicardial Fat Volume Associated with Reversible Myocardial Ischemia in Patients with Suspected Coronary Artery Disease

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Journal of Nuclear Cardiology Aims and scope

An Erratum to this article was published on 27 March 2015

Abstract

Epicardial adipose tissue is a source of pro-inflammatory cytokines and has been linked to the development of coronary artery disease. No study has systematically assessed the relationship between local epicardial fat volume (EFV) and myocardial perfusion defects. We analyzed EFV in patients undergoing SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging combined with computed tomography (CT) for attenuation correction. Low-dose CT without contrast was performed in 396 consecutive patients undergoing SPECT imaging for evaluation of coronary artery disease. Regional thickness, cross-sectional areas, and total EFV were assessed. 295 patients had normal myocardial perfusion scans and 101 had abnormal perfusion scans. Mean EFVs in normal, ischemic, and infarcted hearts were 99.8 ± 82.3 cm3, 156.4 ± 121.9 cm3, and 96.3 ± 102.1 cm3, respectively (P < 0.001). Reversible perfusion defects were associated with increased local EFV compared to normal perfusion in the distribution of the right (69.2 ± 51.5 vs 46.6 ± 32.0 cm3; P = 0.03) and left anterior descending coronary artery (87.1 ± 76.4 vs 46.7 ± 40.6 cm3; P = 0.005). Our results demonstrate increased regional epicardial fat in patients with active myocardial ischemia compared to patients with myocardial scar or normal perfusion on nuclear perfusion scans. Our results suggest a potential role for cardiac CT to improve risk stratification in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.

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Acknowledgement

This work was supported by Grants from the NHLBI (K23 HL095742, P30 HL101272-01, UL1 RR 024156, HL073029) and the Herbert and Florence Irving Scholar Award to Drs. Schulze and Einstein.

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None of the authors has any conflict of interest related to this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, 622 W168th Street, PH10-203, New York, NY, 10032, USA

    Tuba Khawaja MD, Christine Greer BS, Tomoko S. Kato MD, Ketan Bhatia BS, Daichi Shimbo MD, Andrew Konkak MD, Sabahat Bokhari MD, Andrew J. Einstein MD, PhD & P. Christian Schulze MD, PhD

  2. Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Medical Center, 1200 El Camino Real, Medical Office Building 2nd floor, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA

    Samir R. Thadani MD

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  1. Tuba Khawaja MD
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  2. Christine Greer BS
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Correspondence to P. Christian Schulze MD, PhD.

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Khawaja, T., Greer, C., Thadani, S.R. et al. Increased Regional Epicardial Fat Volume Associated with Reversible Myocardial Ischemia in Patients with Suspected Coronary Artery Disease. J. Nucl. Cardiol. 22, 325–333 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12350-014-0004-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12350-014-0004-4

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