Adults may be fat, thin, or carry normal body weight, but if a specific kind of fat has accumulated around their hearts, they probably have atherosclerosis.

Based on multislice cardiac CT studies of 558 chest pain patients, Dr. Hwan Seok Yong and colleagues at Korea University Guro Hospital in Seoul established a correlation for the first time between the presence of pericardial adipose tissue and coronary atherosclerosis in patients with a normal body mass.

The team's recent assessment of 558 patients with chest pain found that pericardial fat is closely linked to coronary artery plaque, even in patients who are not overweight. After excluding patients with a BMI (body mass index) of over 30 the study group was reduced to 165 patients.

"Link emerges between pericardial fat and coronary artery disease"
James Brice
Diagnostic Imaging

Diagnostic Imaging is part of CMP Medica, which is part of United Business Media