Epicardial fat and its association with cardiovascular risk: A cross-sectional observational study

Abstract

Epicardial fat >5 mm is associated with cardiac abnormalities on echocardiography. This is a sensitive assessment of body fat distribution, is easily available at echocardiography, and is simple to acquire at no added cost. Further studies looking at the appropriate cut-off thickness of EAT and the sites of measurement to be used are needed. Comparison of this simple and inexpensive measure with other measures of obesity, such as waist-hip ratio, body mass index, Dexa scan of visceral fat, and magnetic resonance imaging of visceral, are needed.