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 has not been evaluated. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the relationship of echocardiographic epicardial fat thickness (EFT) with restenosis in drug eluting stents (DES). METHODS In this study, 117 patients who underwent coronary angiography due to recurrent clinical symptoms or findings of non-invasive cardiac tests one year after stent implantation were selected. According to angiographic results, they were divided into two groups, 65 patients with in-stent restenosis (case group) and 52 patients without such finding (control group). EFT was measured perpendicularly on the free wall of the right ventricle at the end of systole in two echocardiographic views (parasternal short and long axis) at least in three cardiac cycles. The average of obtained values was determined and recorded as EFT. Furthermore, the history of hypertension, 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=0.812). Patients with in-stent restenosis did not have statistically significant difference (4.6±1.8 mm) in EFT compared to subjects with patent stents (4.5±1.8 mm; P=0.88). The above results were also confirmed using multiple linear regressions. No significant correlation was found between EFT and other clinical variables (P >0.05). CONCLUSION In this selected population, the risk of restenosis was not correlated with epicardial fat thickness. Future studies for determining the role of epicardial fat in development of in-stent restenosis are warranted.