Pericardial fat volume (PFV) is emerging as an important parameter for cardiovascular risk stratification. We propose a hybrid approach for automated PFV quantification from water/fat-resolved whole-heart noncontrast coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). Ten coronary MRA datasets were acquired. Image reconstruction and phase-based water-fat separation were conducted offline. Our propos...

Intramyocardial injection of adipose-derived stem cells (ASC) with other cell types in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) animal models has consistently shown promising clinical regenerative capacities. We investigated the effects of intramyocardial injections of mouse ASC (mASC) with mouse endothelial cells (mEC) on left ventricular function and generation of pericardial fat in AMI rats. AMI ra...

OBJECTIVES to determine the prevalence of asymptomatic ischemic heart disease (IHD) in HIV patients by myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) and to determine the value of coronary artery calcium score (CACS), carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and pericardial fat volume as screening tools for detection of IHD in subjects with HIV. BACKGROUND Patients with HIV seem prone to early developm...

Results A 16-week VLCD significantly reduced bodyweight, hepatic TG content, visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat and pericardial fat volumes to 78, 16, 40, 55 and 83%, respectively, of baseline values (all p<0.05). After an additional 14 months of follow-up on a regular diet, weight and hepatic TG content increased significantly to 90 and 73% of baseline values (P<0.05). After these 14 mont...

BACKGROUND Ectopic accumulation of fat accompanies visceral obesity with detrimental effects. Lipid oversupply to cardiomyocytes leads to cardiac steatosis, and in animal studies lipotoxicity has been associated with impaired left ventricular (LV) function. In humans, studies have yielded inconclusive results. The aim of the study was to evaluate the role of epicardial, pericardial and myocardi...

The increased pericardial fat which often accompanies overall obesity is thought to alter cardiac structure/function and increase the risk for atrial fibrillation. We hypothesized that chronic exposure to bisphenol A (BPA) would induce pericardial fat, cardiac hypertrophy or arrhythmia. C57bl/6n dams were exposed to BPA (25 ng/ml drinking water) beginning on gestation day 11 and progeny continu...

Pericardial fat volume (PFV) is emerging as an important parameter for cardiovascular risk stratification. We propose a hybrid multi-atlas and graph-based segmentation approach for automated PFV quantification from water/fat-resolved whole-heart “needlefree” non-contrast coronary magnetic resonance angiography (MRA). We validated the quantification results on 6 subjects and compared them with m...

BACKGROUND Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease has emerged as a novel cardiovascular risk factor. The aim of the study was to assess the effect of different ectopic fat depots on left ventricular (LV) function in subjects with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. METHODS AND RESULTS Myocardial and hepatic triglyceride contents were measured with 1.5 T magnetic resonance spectroscopy and LV function...