Abstract
Objective: to assess the characteristics of the pericardial fat and it’s relations to some clinical and subclinical factors in patients with chronic coronary syndrome.
Method: A prospective, cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted at Bach Mai Hospital with 37 patients diagnosed with chronic coronary syndrome based on clinical examination, blood tests, electrocardiogram, transthoracic echocardiogram and coronary Multi-Slice Computerized Tomography scan.
Results: In this study, men were predominated (81%), with an average age of 67,8 ± 9,7 years, the most common age group 60 - 79 accounted for 62,2%. The most common risk factor was smoking, accounting for 83,8%, followed by hypertension, dyslipidemia and diabetes. On transthoracic echocardiography, pericardial fat thickness ≥ 5mm occurs mainly with 72,9%, in the short axis, longitudinal axis and parasternal axis are 5,8 ± 1,9 mm, 5.8 ± 3,0 mm, 5,7 ± 1,4 mm. On MSCT, the average pericardial fat volume was 147,7 ± 47,7 cm3. Fat volume ≥ 125 cm3 accounts for 75.7%, of which mainly fat volume is 125 - 150 cm3 with 54,1% and 21,6% having fat volume > 150 cm3. Only 24,3% of fat volume is < 125 cm3. In addition, pericardial fat thickness is related to age, hypertension and changes in the electrocardiogram of the study group.
Conclusion: The pericardial fat in patients with chronic coronary syndrome is significantly thicker than in people without coronary artery disease, closely related to cardiovascular risk factors and the number of stenotic coronary arteries.