Baseline demographic data of all study subjects based on visceral adiposity (PCF and TAT) stratification in current study.

<p>Baseline demographic data of all study subjects based on visceral adiposity (PCF and TAT) stratification in current study.</p

The associations between PCF or TAT on several electrocardiographic indices, including PR interval, QRS duration and QRS axes.

<p>No sex interactions were observed n these associations.</p

Baseline demographic data of all study subjects based on visceral adiposity (either PCF or TAT) stratification in current study.

<p>Baseline demographic data of all study subjects based on visceral adiposity (either PCF or TAT) stratification in current study.</p

Likelihood ratio tests demonstrated the incremental value of PCF and TAT in identifying body surface 12-leads ECG anomaly, including prolonged PR interval (>200ms) and QRS duration (>100ms) when superimposed on age and body size measure in terms of BMI.

<p>Likelihood ratio tests demonstrated the incremental value of PCF and TAT in identifying body surface 12-leads ECG anomaly, including prolonged PR interval (>200ms) and QRS duration (>100ms) when superimposed on age and body size measure in terms of BMI.</p

Several body surface 12-lead ECG parameters across visceral adiposity stratification measures (PCF and TAT) in current study

<p>Several body surface 12-lead ECG parameters across visceral adiposity stratification measures (PCF and TAT) in current study</p

The illustration of single PCF (A) or TAT (C) slice re-construction by using dedicated CT software (Aquarius 3D Workstation, TeraRecon, San Mateo, CA, USA) and subsequent semi-automatic 3D volumes (B: PCF, D: TAT) using CT dataset by summation methods in our current study.

<p>The illustration of single PCF (A) or TAT (C) slice re-construction by using dedicated CT software (Aquarius 3D Workstation, TeraRecon, San Mateo, CA, USA) and subsequent semi-automatic 3D volumes (B: PCF, D: TAT) using CT dataset by summation methods in our current study.</p

The associations between visceral adiposity and body surface ECG data in uni-variate and multi-variate models

<p>The associations between visceral adiposity and body surface ECG data in uni-variate and multi-variate models</p

The Normal Limits, Subclinical Significance, Related Metabolic Derangements and Distinct Biological Effects of Body Site-Specific Adiposity in Relatively Healthy Population

<div><p>Background</p><p>The accumulation of visceral adipose tissue that occurs with normal aging is associated with increased cardiovascular risks. However, the clinical significance, biological effects, and related cardiometabolic derangements of body-site specific adiposity in a relatively healthy population have not been well characterized.</p><p>Materials and Methods</p><p>In this cross-sectional study, we consecutively enrolled 608 asymptomatic subjects (mean age: 47.3 years, 27% female) from 2050 subjects undergoing an annual health survey in Taiwan. We measured pericardial (PCF) and thoracic peri-aortic (TAT) adipose tissue volumes by 16-slice multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) (Aquarius 3D Workstation, TeraRecon, San Mateo, CA, USA) and related these to clinical characteristics, body fat composition (Tanita 305 Corporation, Tokyo, Japan), coronary calcium score (CCS), serum insulin, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (Hs-CRP) level and circulating leukocytes count. Metabolic risk was scored by Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines.</p><p>Results</p><p>TAT, PCF, and total body fat composition all increased with aging and higher metabolic scores (all p<0.05). Only TAT, however, was associated with higher circulating leukocyte counts (ß-coef.:0.24, p<0.05), serum insulin (ß-coef.:0.17, p<0.05) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (ß-coef.:0.24, p<0.05). These relationships persisted after adjustment in multivariable models (all p<0.05). A TAT volume of 8.29 ml yielded the largest area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC: 0.79, 95%CI: 0.74–0.83) to identify metabolic syndrome. TAT but not PCF correlated with higher coronary calcium score after adjustment for clinical variables (all p<0.05).</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>In our study, we observe that age-related body-site specific accumulation of adipose tissue may have distinct biological effects. Compared to other adiposity measures, peri-aortic adiposity is more tightly associated with cardiometabolic risk profiles and subclinical atherosclerosis in a relatively healthy population.</p></div

Measurement of pericardial adipose tissue.

<p>The PCF (*) was defined by the fat between the heart and the pericardium (arrow) as shown in axial view (A). Thick-slice (10 mm) 3D reconstruction axial view (B) demonstrated PCF. All pixels within a window of −195 to −45 HU and a window centre of −120 HU inside pericardial sac have been selected as PCF and reconstructed into the 3D image. PCF = pericardial fat.</p

The association between PA-PDI interval and pericardial fat.

<p>The PA-PDI interval was significantly correlated with the amount of PCF (r = 0.641, p value <0.001) (A). When patients were divided into 3 groups according to the tertile values of PCF, the PA-PDI interval continuously lengthened from first (115.8±12.4 ms), second (125.0±9.3 ms) to third tertile (135.1±12.8 mm) (B). *P value <0.05, second or third tertile versus first tertile; ⁺P value <0.05, third versus second tertile. PCF = pericardial fat.</p