The Relationship Between Visceral Adiposity Index and Epicardial Adipose Tissue in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Introduction and aim Cardiovascular diseases remain the most common cause of morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes. Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT), visceral fat depot of the heart, was found to be associated with coronary artery disease in cardiac and non-cardiac patients. Increased visceral adiposity is associated with proinflammatory activity, impaired insulin sensitivity, increased risk of atherosclerosis and high mortality. In the present study we aimed to investigate the relationship between EAT and visceral adiposity index (VAI) in patients with diabetes. Methods This was a cross-sectional study involving 128 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (73 females, 55 males; mean age, 54.09++9.17 years) and 32 control subjects (23 females, 9 males; mean age, 50.09++7.81 years). EAT was measured by using a trans-thoracic echocardiograph. Parameters such as waist circumference (WC), body mass index (BMI), triglyceride and high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol were used to calculate VAI. Result EAT and VAI measurements were significantly higher in patients with diabetes when compared to control subjects. In the bivariate correlation analysis, VAI was positively correlated with uric acid level (r=0.214, p=0.015), white blood cell count (r=0.262, p=0.003), platelet count (r=0.223, p=0.011) and total cholesterol levels (r=0.363, p<0.001). Also, VAI was found to be the independent predictor of EAT. Conclusion Simple calculation of VAI was found to be associated with increased EAT in patients with type 2 diabetes.