Significance of epicardial fat in the diagnosis of coronary atherosclerosis before heart valve surgery

Abstract

Introduction: Epicardial fat has been shown to be related not only with clinical atherosclerosis, but also with subclinical atherosclerosis.<br />Objective: To determine the significance of epicardial fat in the diagnosis of coronary atherosclerosis in patients with valvular heart disease.<br />Method: The study included 62 patients scheduled for valve replacement surgery who had previously undergone invasive coronary angiography. Before surgery, epicardial fat measurement was performed by echocardiogram. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative predictive values were determined, as well as the validity index and likelihood ratios for positive and negative tests.<br />Results: 88.7% of patients with heart valve disease had no lesions in the coronary arteries. The most relevant parameters obtained from the measurement of epicardial fat were 78% sensitivity and 93% negative predictive value, and a ratio of positive and negative likelihood of 2.23 and 0.34 respectively.<br />Conclusions: The group of patients with significant coronary lesions showed higher levels of epicardial fat than the group without coronary lesions. It confirms the diagnostic validity of this test for the detection of coronary atherosclerosis in the study patients