Why are we shaped differently, and why does it matter?Association of pericardial fat accumulation rather than abdominal obesity with coronary atherosclerotic plaque formation in patients with suspected coronary artery disease.
Atherosclerosis 2010;209:573-8
Konishi M, Sugiyama S, Sugamura K, Nozaki T, Ohba K, Matsubara J, Matsuzawa Y, Sumida H, Nagayoshi Y, Nakaura T, Awai K, Yamashita Y, Jinnouchi H, Matsui K, Kimura K, Umemura S, Ogawa H
The authors in this study wanted to determine the association between pericardial fat volume (PFV) and the presence of early-stage coronary plaques using computed tomography in 171 consecutive patients suspected of coronary artery disease with a mean age of 66±11 years. Results showed that PFV correlated significantly with the presence of any coronary plaques. In fact, through multivariate regression analyses, PFV, but not waist circumference, was significantly and independently associated with the presence of coronary plaques, particularly nonstenotic and noncalcified plaques. Moreover, ROC analysis indicated that PFV could be clinically useful for assessment of coronary plaques detected by multislice CT. These results suggest that pericardial fat deposition may be more strongly associated with coronary atherogenesis than abdominal fat deposition.
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