Evaluation of the Correlations of SYNTAX scores, Anthropometric Measurements and Epicardial Fat Tissue in Predicting the Risk of Coronary Artery Disease

Abstract

Aim: To investigate the strength of correlations between some anthropometric parameters, SYNTAX scores and epicardial adipose tissue (EFT) in coronary artery disease (CAD). Also to determine for the first time that the upper half of the chest circumference (CCuH) and neck circumference (NC)/neck length (NL) ratio may be an indicator for predicting cardiovascular risk Material and Methods: This study included 370 individuals (198 males and 172 females), who were either diagnosed with CAD (n=300) or who were the control group participants (n=70). The EFT was measured and calculated SYNTAX score. Anthropometric measurements included height, weight, NL, NC, Waist circumference (WC), CCuH, Hip circumference (HC), and sagittal abdominal diameter (SAD), Body Mass Index (BMI), Waist circumference/Hip circumference ratio (WHR), and NC/NL ratio. The study was approved by the Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University Non-Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee (Protocol number: 2019/29). Results: The statistical differences in the NL, CCuH, HC, and SAD were observed to be non-significant between the CAD patients and the control group. The NC (367.06±1.99, 37.49±2.64, p=0.04), NC/NL ratio (2.44±0.16, 2.50±0.21, p=0.02), WC (104.69±8.27, 107.55±10.77, p=0.04), Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF) (62)-(51) (p<0.001), and EFT (3.06±0.33)-(3.41±0.80) were statistically significantly different between the control group and the CAD group (p<0.001). Elevated SYNTAX scores (r=0.15, p=0.01) and increased EFT (r=0.21, p<0.001) were more common in male patients. Conclusion: The SYNTAX score was determined to be correlated with the NC, NC/NL ratio, CCuH, WC, HC, WHR, SAD, and EFT and it was found that these parameters increased significantly with increasing SYNTAX scores. These results show that, in addition to the SYNTAX score, anthropometric measurements and EFT quantity can be used for determining the severity of CAD.