Correlation between Epicardial Fat Thickness and Severity of Coronary Artery Disease in Diabetic Patients- A Prospective Observational Study

Introduction: People with diabetes are at high risk of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), duration of diabetes is directly proportional to macro vascular complications. Epicardial fat through its various mechanism and anatomical closeness to the myocardium has a direct impact on the severity of CAD. Aim: To determine the correlation between EFT and severity of CAD in diabetic patients using syntax scoring system. Materials and Methods: This prospective observational study was done on 100 diabetics who were admitted and treated in Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Instituite for CAD. Epicardial Fat Thickness (EFT) was measured with 2D-ECHO, severity of CAD calculated with SYNTAX-II scoring system. Pearson correlation test was carried out to find the correlation between EFT and CAD. Results: The mean age of the study population was 54.22 years. The mean EFT was 4.35 mm. The minimum thickness was 2.50 mm and the maximum thickness was 6.20 mm. Among the study population, based on SYNTAX-II score, 53 cases had moderate CAD accounting for 53%; 30% of the cases had mild CAD and 16% of the cases had severe CAD. Among the 30 cases with mild CAD, the mean EFT was 4.09 mm, Among the 53 cases with moderate CAD, the mean EFT was 4.36 mm, Among the 16 cases with severe CAD, the mean EFT was 4.89 mm. The increased thickness of epicardial fat was found to have a direct correlation with the severity of CAD. Conclusion: It can be concluded that EFT has significant correlation with severity of coronary artery disease.