Pericardial Fat Is a Risk Factor for Severe Coronary Artery Stenosis in Young People: A Study with 256-Slice Computed Tomography

Purpose: The volume of pericardial fat in young people with and without severe coronary artery stenosis is currently unknown. This study was to investigate the volume of pericardial fat in young people with and without severe coronary artery stenosis with multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT). Materials and methods: Seventy-five patients younger than 45 years with severe coronary artery stenosis (>75%) who underwent cardiac MDCT angiography were enrolled in this study. Seventy-five healthy young people were also enrolled. The height, body weight, body mass index (BMI) and the volume of the epi-, para- and pericardial fats on the MDCT imaging were evaluated and compared. Results: The body weight and BMI were significantly (P<0.001) greater for the patient group than for the control group. The epi-, para- and pericardial fats were all significantly greater (P<0.0001) in the patient group (126.4 ± 32.0, 52.3 ± 27.1, and 178.7 ± 55.3 ml, respectively) than in the control group (77.8 ± 20.8, 21.2 ± 13.9 and 99.1 ± 32.2 ml, respectively). In the patient group, the male had significantly (P<0.05) greater volume in the epi-, para- and pericardial fats than the females (131.7 ± 33.3 versus 115.9 ± 26.9, 58.1 ± 29.4 versus 40.6 ± 17.1 and 189.8 ± 58.2 versus 156.5 ± 41.9, respectively). A significantly (P<0.0001) positive linear correlation existed either between epi-, para- and pericardial fats or between weight and the epicardial fat in either group. Multivariate regression analysis demonstrated the body weight (R=0.34, P=0.003) and height (R=0.41, P=0.0003) were significantly positively associated with epicardial fat volume. Conclusions: The pericardial fat is a risk factor for severe coronary artery stenosis in young people.