Epicardial fat volume evaluated with multidetector computed tomography and other risk factors for prevalence of three-vessel coronary lesions

Purpose To retrospectively investigate the epicardial fat volume with multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and other risk factors for the prevalence of three-vessel coronary lesion. Materials and methods MDCT was performed on 424 subjects with or without three-vessel coronary lesion. Blood was tested for triglyceride, high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), apolipoprotein A (ApoA), apolipoprotein B (ApoB), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), lipoprotein a, and fasting blood glucose. Results Among all the subjects, a significant ( P < 0.05) negative linear correlation existed between age and ALT or ALT/AST. The epicardial fat had a significant ( P < 0.05) negative linear correlation with HDL and Apo A but a positive correlation with age and ApoB/ApoA. The epicardial fat volume and the fasting blood glucose were significantly ( P = 0.001) greater in the patients than in the control group, whereas HDL and Apo A were both significantly ( P < 0.0001) smaller in the patients than in the control groups. A significant prediction value ( P < 0.05) existed in age increase, male gender, epicardial fat increase, low HDL, high LDL, and elevated fasting blood glucose. Conclusion Three-vessel coronary lesions are more prevalent in subjects with greater volume of epicardial fat and in male gender.