Echocardiographic measurement of epicardial adipose tissue thickness in patients with microvascular angina.

Introduction: Impaired coronary microcirculation, inflammation, and endothelial dysfunction were reported etiological factors for microvascular angina (MVA). Recently, increased epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) thickness has been associated with hypertension, metabolic syndrome, and coronary artery disease in general population. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the EAT thickness in patients with MVA.

Methods: This study enrolled 200 patients (83 males; mean age: 55.4 ± 8.2 years) who have been diagnosed with MVA and 200 controls (89 males; mean age: 54.4 ± 8.5 years). All patients underwent transthoracic echocardiography, and EAT thickness was measured from a parasternal long-axis view as the hypoechoic space on the right ventricular free wall.

Results: The mean EAT thickness was significantly higher in MVA patients than the controls (5.5 ± 1.1 vs. 4.9 ± 0.7 mm;  < 0.001). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed that increased EAT thickness was an independent predictor of MVA (OR = 1.183, 95% CI = 1.063-1.489;  = 0.023). In receiver operating characteristic curve analyses, EAT thickness above 5.3 mm predicted MVA with a sentivity of 68% and a specificity of 63% (AUC = 0.711, 95% CI = 0.659-0.762;  < 0.001).

Conclusions: The EAT thickness was observed significantly higher in MVA patients as compared to controls. Increased EAT thickness may be associated with mechanisms that play a major role in the pathogenesis of MVA.