Epicardial obesity and atrial fibrillation: emphasis on atrial fat depot
https://doi.org/10.14341/omet12614
Abstract
The studies, performed with MRI and CT, showed that the increase of fat, immediately adjacent to the myocardium (epicardial fat) is correlated more strongly with the risk of atrial fibrillation than the general or abdominal obesity. According to some studies, epicardial fat around the left atrium is a strong predictor of the development at atrial fibrillation. Also, the amount of the fat is associated with the effectiveness of cardioversion and the risk of developing thromboembolic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. The number of such works is small, since tomographic examinations are not needed if intra-atrial thrombosis is suspected, and transthoracic echocardiograthy does not allow visualization of atrial fat. However, transesophageal echocardiography is widely used in patients with atrial fibrillation and allows to measure the structures that serve as depots of epicardial fat, namely the interatrial septum and left lateral ridge. Accumulation of epicardial fat leads to thickening of these structures. This can be used to study the relationship between epicardial obesity and the risk of thromboembolic complications in patients with atrial fibrillations.
About the Authors
Evgeniy S. Mazur
Tver State Medical University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Evgeniy S. Mazur, MD, PhD, professor, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8879-3791, eLibrary SPIN: 3898-6719. e-mail: mazur-tver@mail.ru
4 Sovetskaya street, 170100 Tver
Competing Interests:
No conflict of interest
Vera V. Mazur
Tver State Medical University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Vera Vyacheslavovna Mazur, MD, PhD, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4818-434X, eLibrary SPIN: 9798-0540, e-mail: vera.v.mazur@gmail.com
Competing Interests:
No conflict of interest
Nikolay D. Bazhenov
Tver State Medical University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Nikolay D. Bazhenov, MD, PhD, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0511-7366, eLibrary SPIN: 1053-3892, e-mail: bazhenovnd@mail.ru
Competing Interests:
No conflict of interest
Sergey V. Kolbasnicov
Tver State Medical University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Sergey V. Kolbasnicov, MD, PhD, professor, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1708-455X, eLibrary SPIN: 2127-3801, e-mail: kabinet208@mail.ru
Competing Interests:
No conflict of interest
Oksana V. Nilova
Tver State Medical University
Russian Federation
Competing Interests:
Russian Federation
Oksana V. Nilova, MD, PhD, ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0648-5358, eLibrary SPIN: 1881-9917, e-mail: tevirp69@mail.ru
Competing Interests:
No conflict of interest
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1. Figure 1. Fat tissue of the heart in pathological (A) and echocardiographic (B) studies. | |
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2. Figure 2. Transesophageal echocardiographic examination: A - measurement of the thickness of the interatrial septum in the bicaval position, B - the left lateral ridge (marked with an arrow) in a two-chamber position with a cut off the apex of the heart from the middle esophagus. | |
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Mazur E.S., Mazur V.V., Bazhenov N.D., Kolbasnicov S.V., Nilova O.V. Epicardial obesity and atrial fibrillation: emphasis on atrial fat depot. Obesity and metabolism. 2020;17(3):316-325. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.14341/omet12614
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