Association of human epicardial adipose tissue volume, inflammatory mediators with positive vascular remodeling

AIM:To investigate whether epicardial adipose tissue volume (EATV) is correlated with vascular remodeling in patients presenting with coronary heart disease (CHD). METHODS: A total of 180 patients were assessed for severity of coronary artery stenosis and EATV by 64-slice dual-source cardiac computed tomography (CT) scans. One hundred eighty patients were confirmed to have CHD utilizing digital subtraction angiography (DSA) and the other 80 patients were classified as non-CHD. Vascular remodeling indices and plaque vulnerability parameters (lipid plaque volume, fibrous plaque volume, and calcified plaque volume) were measured in order to determine any significant correlations with EATV. RESULTS: Analysis of CHD patients demonstrated that EATV in patients with positive remodeling was significantly higher ［(128±42) cm3 vs.(95±25) cm3］ than the non-positive remodeling group. Logistic regression analysis indicated that EATV is an independent risk factor for positive vascular remodeling. In the CHD group, EATV was positively correlated with lipid plaque volume and negatively correlated with fibrous/calcification plaque volume (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Epicardial adipose tissue volume (EATV) is significantly correlated with positive remodeling in coronary heart disease.