Abstract: Objective: To explore the predictive value of epicardial adipose tissue thickness (EATT) for coronary artery disease (CAD) as a non-invasive approach for predicting CAD. Methods: A total of 134 cases with suspected CAD were enrolled,and 56 patients were diagnosed as CAD by coronary computerized tomographic angiography (CTA). EATT was measured by ultrasonography. The predictive factors were compared between the patients with CAD (CAD group, n=56) and patients without CAD (non-CAD group, n=78). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to screen the independent predictive factors of CAD. The receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curve was used to evaluate the diagnostic value of EATT for CAD. Results: The EATT of CAD group and non-CAD group were (6.45±1.71) mm and (4.89±1.41) mm, respectively (t=5.781, P<0.001). After adjusting the confounding factors, such as body mass index (BMI), age,hypertension, total cholesterol (TC), low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and family history of CAD, EATT was independently associated with CAD(OR=3.753, P=0.001). The area under the ROC curve of EATT for diagnosis of CAD was 0.760(P=0.001), and when 5.55 mm was taken as the cut-off point, the specificity, sensitivity and accuracy were 71.43%, 71.80% and 71.64%, respectively. Conclusions: EATT is independently associated with CAD, it can be used as a preliminary screening test for subjects at a high risk of CAD.

Key words: Epicardial adipose tissue thickness, Coronary atherosclerotic heart disease, Ultrasonography