Measuring A New Marker Could Benefit ADPKD Patients

Epicardial fat thickness could be a useful biomarker for cardiovascular risk in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), according to the results of a recent study.

While epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) has been identified as a potential cardiovascular risk factor, its association with left ventricular mass (LVM) in ADPKD patients is currently unknown.

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For their study, the researchers used ultrasound to measure EAT thickness, LVM, LVM indexed by body surface area (LVMi), and left atrium size in 41 patients hypertensive ADPKD patients and 89 patients with essential hypertension (EH).

They found that EAT was significantly higher in ADPKD patients compared with EH patients (9.2 ± 2.9 mm vs. 7.8 ± 1.6 mm), and significantly associated with LVM, LVMi, and LAVI in the ADPKD group (r = 0.56, p = 0.005; r = 0.424, p = 0.022; and r = 0.48, respectively). EAT was also a stronger predictor of LVMi than systolic blood pressure, age, and body mass index.

“Our data showed that EAT was higher in ADPKD patients than in EH subjects and independently correlated with LVMi. EAT measurement can be a useful marker for the cardiovascular risk stratification in ADPKD,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Concistre A, Petramala L, Scoccia G, et al. Epicardial fat thickness in patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. Cardiorenal Med. 2018;3;8(3):199-207.