Examination of the epicardial fat area in patients with rheumatoid arthritis by computed tomography of the thorax

Yıl 2019, Cilt: 41 Sayı: 3, 506 - 515, 30.09.2019

Nisa Başpınar Orhan Solak İsmail Şalk Ferhat Sezer

https://doi.org/10.7197/223.vi.613537

Öz

Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is
an autoimmune and inflammatory disease. The prevalence of cardiovascular
diseases (CVDs) increases in RA.
The CVDs were shown as the major cause of death in RA. In this study, it was
aimed to determine the difference between the patients and the control group by
measuring the epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) at the left major coronary
artery, which is known as one of the major risk factors for CVDs in RA patients
who underwent computerized tomography (CT) of the thorax due to any reason,
through the CT.

Method: The study includes 87 patients diagnosed with RA in
the remission period and 45 healthy people as the control group. The files and
archive records were reviewed and the clinical features of the patient and
control groups, the EAT areas in the thorax CT performed, ascending aorta,
pulmonary truncus, and pulmonary artery diameters, as well as, the cardiothoracic
rates (CTR) measured with CT were recorded.

Results: There was no significant difference between the
groups in terms of age and gender (p>0.05). It was determined that the EAT
measured with CT increased in patients diagnosed with RA compared to the control
group and this increase was closely related to the aortic and pulmonary artery
width (p<0.05). In addition, the increase in the EAT area was directly
proportional with the CTR in patients diagnosed with RA (p<0.05). It was
seen that the ascending aorta diameter, pulmonary truncus diameter, and right
and left pulmonary artery diameters increased compared to the control group
(p<0.05).

Conclusions:
In the present
study, it was determined that the EAT measured with CT increased in patients
with RA compared to normal people and this increase was closely related to the
aortic and pulmonary artery width. In addition, the increase in the EAT area
was directly proportional with the CTR in patients diagnosed with RA. The
patients with RA were under a significant risk compared to normal people in
terms of the development of CVDs. It is considered that more prospective
studies including patients diagnosed with RA should be conducted.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Rheumatoid Arthritis, Epicardial adipose tissue, EAT, Cardiovascular Disease, Computerized Tomography

Kaynakça

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