Echocardiographic Epicardial Adipose Tissue as a New Indicator of Cardiovascular Risk

Background and Purpose: Epicardial fat is the true visceral fat located around the heart, particularly around sub-epicardial coronary arteries that may locally interact and modulate the coronary arteries and myocardium through paracrine or vasocrine secretion of anti-inflammatory and proatherogenic cytokines. Most previous studies have used echocardiography and reported controversial results, probably due to differences in measuring techniques and study population. Materials and Methods: A review of literature was conducted using the PubMed and Google Scholar databases in addition to Google and Yahoo search engines. The purpose was to look for articles describing the association between echocardiographically measured EAT and the major related outcomes including coronary artery disease, left ventricular systolic, diastolic dysfunction, and atrial fibrillation. Finally, 34 articles were included in the results of the present review. Result: The potential role of echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness as a marker and predictor of cardio metabolic risk has been suggested. Conclusion: The potential role of echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness as a marker and predictor of cardio metabolic risk, metabolic syndrome, excess visceral fat accumulation, insulin resistance, subclinical atherosclerosis, and CAD has been documented in the present study.