Grasa epicárdica: una nueva herramienta para la evaluación del riesgo cardiometabólico

Scientific and clinical interest in epicardial adipose tissue, the true visceral fat of the heart, is recent, but of great importance. Epicardial fat thickness can be directly detected and accurately measured with standard 2-dimensional transthoracic echocardiography, which has some advantages as an index of high cardiometabolic risk, including low cost, easy accessibility and good reproducibility. Epicardial fat is clinically correlated with left ventricular mass, atrial dimensions, and diastolic function. Furthermore, the relation between epicardial adipose tissue and coronary atherosclerosis is present in patients with clinically manifest coronary artery disease, and based on the results of clinical studies it can be argued that epicardial adipose tissue may be involved in the process of atherosclerosis.