The Quantity of Epicardial Adipose Tissue in Patients Having Ablation for Atrial Fibrillation With and Without Heart Failure

The distribution of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) across the spectrum of heart failure (HF) has yet to be fully elucidated. The present study investigated the distribution of EAT in an HF spectrum and its association with clinical and echocardiographic parameters. A total of 326 patients who underwent contrast-enhanced computed tomography before transcatheter atrial fibrillation ablation with and without HF symptoms, and a wide range of left ventricular (LV) ejection fractions (LVEF) were included. EAT mass was quantified on contrast-enhanced computed tomography using dedicated software. A total of 36 patients had HF with reduced LVEF (HFrEF) (11.0%), 46 had HF with mid-range LVEF (HFmrEF) (14.1%), 53 had HFpEF (16.3%), and 191 did not have HF symptoms (58.6%) and were considered controls. Patients with HFpEF had the largest EAT mass, significantly higher than the control group (128 ± 36 g vs 95 ± 35 g, p