Structural and geometrical heart parametrs and epicardial fat thickness in patients with arterial hypertenstion

Objective. The main task of the paper is to estimate the relationship between the epicardial fat thickness and cardiac remodeling in patients with arterial hypertension (AH). Materials and Methods. The authors examined 48 patients with AH stage I-III with a body mass index (BMI)>25 kg/m2 and 20 healthy persons with a BMI2. All the patients underwent echocardiography; standard techniques were used to evaluate epicardial fat thickness anthropometric parameters. Results. It was proved that the average epicardial fat thickness in patients with AH is significantly higher than in healthy individuals. Certain interconnection between the increase of epicardial fat thickness and the left ventricular myocardium mass in AH patients was found; gender differences were determined. It was revealed that left ventricular hypertrophy, regardless of its geometry, was associated with high rate of epicardial fat thickness, which was confirmed by a small correlation between epicardial fat thickness and the relative thickness of the left ventricular wall and, on the contrary, there was much correlation between epicardial fat thickness and the left ventricular myocardium mass. Correlation of the left ventricular structural parameters in healthy individuals was higher than in patients with AH. Conclusion. The authors found significant correlation between the epicardial fat thickness and the thickness of the left ventricular wall and the left ventricular myocardial mass in patients with AH and healthy individuals. Myocardial hypertrophy regardless of the left ventricular geometry is associated with high rates of the epicardial fat. Men with AH were reported to have higher parameters of epicardial fat thickness than women.