Epicardial fat thickness as associated with left ventricular myocardial performance in patients with newly diagnosed hypertension

Objective: Epicardial fat thickness (EFth) is associated with both left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and diastolic dysfunction. However, the effect of EFth on myocardial performance is not known. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between EFth and tissue Doppler myocardial performance index (TD-MPI), which incorporates both systolic and diastolic left ventricular (LV) function, in newly diagnosed hypertension (HT) patients. Methods: A total of 314 consecutive, newly diagnosed HT patients were prospectively included (mean age: 51.9+-1.7 years). EFth was measured perpendicularly on the free wall of the right ventricle at the end of the systole in 2 echocardiographic views (parasternal short and long axis). Myocardial performance index (MPI) was calculated using tissue Doppler (TD) echocardiography. Patients were divided into 2 groups according to median TD-MPI levels (TD-MPIlow and TD-MPIhigh). Results: EFth values of the TD-MPIhigh group were higher than those of the TD-MPIlow group (p