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Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology
Published in: Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology 2/2015

01-06-2015 | Original Article

The correlation of epicardial adipose tissue on postmortem CT with coronary artery stenosis as determined by autopsy

Authors: Damien I. Sequeira, Lars C. Ebert, Patricia M. Flach, Thomas D. Ruder, Michael J. Thali, Garyfalia Ampanozi

Published in: Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology | Issue 2/2015

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Abstract

The goal of this study was to assess whether epicardial and paracardial adipose tissue volumes, as determined by computed tomography (CT), correlate with coronary artery stenosis as determined by autopsy. The postmortem CT data and autopsy findings of 116 adult human decedents were retrospectively compared. Subjects were classified into three groups according to their degree of coronary artery stenosis: ≥50, <50 %, and no stenosis. Epicardial and paracardial adipose tissue volumes were calculated based on manual segmentation after threshold based masking. In addition, epicardial adipose tissue thickness was measured using a caliper. All three parameters (thickness of epicardial fat and volumes of both epicardial and paracardial fat) were compared among the three groups and correlated with the degree of coronary artery stenosis. The group with no coronary artery stenosis showed the lowest mean values of epicardial adipose tissue volume, while the coronary artery stenosis ≥50 % group showed the highest volume. All measured variables (thickness of epicardial fat and volumes of both epicardial and paracardial fat) correlated significantly with the grade of coronary artery stenosis, even after controlling for BMI, however, epicardial adipose tissue volume exhibited the strongest correlation. This study reveals that there is an association between the degree of coronary artery stenosis and the amount of epicardial fat tissue: The larger the volume of epicardial fat, the higher the degree of coronary artery stenosis.
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Metadata
Title
The correlation of epicardial adipose tissue on postmortem CT with coronary artery stenosis as determined by autopsy
Authors
Damien I. Sequeira
Lars C. Ebert
Patricia M. Flach
Thomas D. Ruder
Michael J. Thali
Garyfalia Ampanozi
Publication date
01-06-2015
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Forensic Science, Medicine and Pathology / Issue 2/2015
Print ISSN: 1547-769X
Electronic ISSN: 1556-2891
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-015-9659-7

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