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Aims Epicardial fat is a metabolically active adipose tissue depot situated between the myocardium and visceral pericardium that covers ∼80% of the heart surface. While epicardial fat has been associated with the development of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, less is known about the relationship between epicardial fat and coronary vascular function. Moreover, the relations between excess epicardial fat and cardiac morphology and function remain incompletely understood. Methods and results To address these knowledge gaps, we retrospectively analysed data from 294 individuals from our database of women with suspected ischaemia with no obstructive coronary disease (INOCA) who underwent both invasive coronary function testing and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Epicardial fat area, biventricular morphology, and function, as well as left atrial function, were assessed from cine images, per established protocols. The major novel findings were two-fold: first, epicardial fat area was not associated with coronary vascular dysfunction. Secondly, epicardial fat was associated with increased left ventricular concentricity (β = 0.15, P = 0.01), increased septal thickness (β = 0.17, P = 0.002), and reduced left atrial conduit fraction (β = −0.15, P = 0.02), even after accounting for age, BMI, and history of hypertension. Conclusion Taken together, these data do not support a measurable relationship between epicardial fat and coronary vascular dysfunction but do suggest that epicardial fat may be related to concentric remodelling and diastolic dysfunction in women with suspected INOCA. Prospective studies are needed to elucidate the long-term impact of epicardial fat in this patient population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Epicardial fat is a metabolically active adipose tissue depot situated between the myocardium and visceral pericardium that covers ∼80% of the heart surface. While epicardial fat has been associated with the development of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, less is known about the relationship between epicardial fat and coronary vascular function. Moreover, the relations between excess epicardial fat and cardiac morphology and function remain incompletely understood., Methods and Results: To address these knowledge gaps, we retrospectively analysed data from 294 individuals from our database of women with suspected ischaemia with no obstructive coronary disease (INOCA) who underwent both invasive coronary function testing and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging. Epicardial fat area, biventricular morphology, and function, as well as left atrial function, were assessed from cine images, per established protocols. The major novel findings were two-fold: first, epicardial fat area was not associated with coronary vascular dysfunction. Secondly, epicardial fat was associated with increased left ventricular concentricity (β = 0.15, P = 0.01), increased septal thickness (β = 0.17, P = 0.002), and reduced left atrial conduit fraction (β = -0.15, P = 0.02), even after accounting for age, BMI, and history of hypertension., Conclusion: Taken together, these data do not support a measurable relationship between epicardial fat and coronary vascular dysfunction but do suggest that epicardial fat may be related to concentric remodelling and diastolic dysfunction in women with suspected INOCA. Prospective studies are needed to elucidate the long-term impact of epicardial fat in this patient population., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest: C.N.B.M. has received consulting fees from SHL Telemedicine and iRhythm. J.W. has received consulting fees from Abbott Vascular. The other co-authors do not report any conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Cardiology. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)