The association between epicardial fat thickness in echocardiography and coronary restenosis in drug eluting stents

BACKGROUND: The association between epicardial fat and coronary in-stent restenosis hasnot been evaluated. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship ofechocardiographic epicardial fat thickness (EFT) with restenosis in drug eluting stents (DES).METHODS: In this study, ۱۱۷ patients who underwent coronary angiography due to recurrentclinical symptoms or findings of non-invasive cardiac tests one year after stent implantationwere selected. According to angiographic results, they were divided into two groups, ۶۵ patientswith in-stent restenosis (case group) and ۵۲ patients without such finding (control group). EFTwas measured perpendicularly on the free wall of the right ventricle at the end of systole in twoechocardiographic views (parasternal short and long axis) at least in three cardiac cycles. Theaverage of obtained values was determined and recorded as EFT. Furthermore, the history ofhypertension, smoking and diabetes, age and sex were investigated and body mass index (BMI)of each patient was also calculated.RESULTS: There were no significant differences in the baseline characteristics (P = ۰.۸۱۲).Patients with in-stent restenosis did not have statistically significant difference (۴.۶ ± ۱.۸ mm)in EFT compared to subjects with patent stents (۴.۵ ± ۱.۸ mm; P = ۰.۸۸). The above results werealso confirmed using multiple linear regressions. No significant correlation was found betweenEFT and other clinical variables (P > ۰.۰۵).CONCLUSION: In this selected population, the risk of restenosis was not correlated withepicardial fat thickness. Future studies for determining the role of epicardial fat in developmentof in-stent restenosis are warranted.Keywords: Epicardial Fat Thickness, Echocardiography, In-stent Restenosis (ISR).