Examination of the Epicardial Fat Area in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis by Computed Tomography of the Thorax

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune and inflammatory disease. The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) increases in RA. The CVDs were shown as the major cause of death in RA. In this study, it was aimed to determine the difference between the patients and the control group by measuring the epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) at the left major coronary artery, which is known as one of the major risk factors for CVDs in RA patients who underwent computerized tomography (CT) of the thorax due to any reason, through the CT. Method: The study includes 87 patients diagnosed with RA in the remission period and 45 healthy people as the control group. The files and archive records were reviewed and the clinical features of the patient and control groups, the EAT areas in the thorax CT performed, ascending aorta, pulmonary truncus, and pulmonary artery diameters, as well as, the cardiothoracic rates (CTR) measured with CT were recorded. Results: There was no significant difference between the groups in terms of age and gender (p>0.05). It was determined that the EAT measured with CT increased in patients diagnosed with RA compared to the control group and this increase was closely related to the aortic and pulmonary artery width (p<0.05). In addition, the increase in the EAT area was directly proportional with the CTR in patients diagnosed with RA (p<0.05). It was seen that the ascending aorta diameter, pulmonary truncus diameter, and right and left pulmonary artery diameters increased compared to the control group (p<0.05). Conclusions: In the present study, it was determined that the EAT measured with CT increased in patients with RA compared to normal people and this increase was closely related to the aortic and pulmonary artery width. In addition, the increase in the EAT area was directly proportional with the CTR in patients diagnosed with RA. The patients with RA were under a significant risk compared to normal people in terms of the development of CVDs. It is considered that more prospective studies including patients diagnosed with RA should be conducted.