Abstract：
Epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) deposition has been long associated with heart weight. However, recent research has failed to replicate this association. We aimed to determine the association of EAT volume with heart weight in post-mortem cases and identify potential confounding variables. EAT volume derived from post-mortem computed tomography (PMCT) and heart weight were measured in post-mortem cases (N = 87, age: 56 ± 16 years, 28% female). Cases with hypertrophied heart weights (N = 44) were determined from reference tables. Univariable associations were tested using Spearman correlation and simple linear regression. Independence was determined with stepwise regression. In the total cohort, EAT volume (median 66 ± 45 cm3) was positively associated with heart weight (median 435 ± 132 g) at the univariable level (r = 0.6, P < 0.0001) and after adjustment for age, female sex, and various body size metrics (R2 adjusted = 0.41-0.57). Median EAT volume was 1.9-fold greater in cases with hypertrophic hearts (P < 0.0001) but with considerably greater variability, especially in cases with extreme EAT volume or heart weight. As such, EAT volume was not associated with heart weight in hypertrophic cases, while a robust independent association was found in non-hypertrophic cases (R2 adjusted = 0.62-0.86). EAT mass estimated from EAT volume found that EAT comprised approximately 13% of overall heart mass in the total cases. This was significantly greater in cases with hypertrophy (median 15.5%; range, 3.6-36.6%) relative to non-hypertrophied cases (12.5%, 3.3-24.3%) (P = 0.04). EAT volume is independently and positively associated with heart weight in post-mortem cases. Excessive heart weight significantly confounded this association.
摘要：
心外膜脂肪组织(EAT)沉积与心脏重量长期相关。然而,最近的研究未能复制这种关联。我们旨在确定死后病例中EAT体积与心脏重量的关联，并确定潜在的混杂变量。在死后病例中测量了死后计算机断层扫描（PMCT）得出的EAT体积和心脏重量（N=87，年龄：56±16岁，28%女性）。根据参考表确定具有肥大心脏重量的病例(N=44)。使用Spearman相关性和简单线性回归测试单变量关联。用逐步回归法确定独立性。在总队列中，EAT体积（中位数66±45cm3）与心脏重量（中位数435±132g）在单变量水平（r=0.6，P<0.0001）和调整年龄后呈正相关，女性性别,和各种体型指标(R2调整=0.41-0.57)。心脏肥厚的患者的平均进食量为1.9倍（P<0.0001），但变异性更大，特别是在有极端的食量或心脏重量的情况下。因此，在肥厚病例中，进食量与心脏重量无关，而在非肥厚病例中发现了强大的独立关联（R2调整=0.62-0.86）。从EAT体积估计的EAT质量发现，EAT占总心脏质量的约13％。这在肥大的病例中明显更大(中位数15.5%;范围,3.6-36.6％）相对于非肥大病例（12.5％，3.3-24.3%)(P=0.04)。在死后病例中，EAT体积与心脏重量呈独立正相关。过度的心脏重量显著混淆了这种关联。
