Epicardial Adiposity in Children with Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome

Objective: obesity increases cardiac diseases by increasing tendency to atherosclerosis. our aim was to define epicardial adipose tissue thickness, and its related factors in obese children. methods: total of 94 patients were divided into obesity with metabolic syndrome (ms) (n=30), obesity without ms (n=33), and control (n=31) groups. auxological values with fasting glucose, fasting insulin, alanine transaminase, serum lipid levels, and high sensitive c-reactive protein levels were evaluated. epicardial adipose tissue thickness, interventricular septum thickness and left ventricular mass were measured by echocardiography. findings: weight, body mass index, waist circumference, insulin, alanine transaminase, and high sensitive creactive protein values were markedly higher in obesity group when compared with controls (p<0.001). epicardial adipose tissue thickness was 0.64±0.23 cm in obesity with ms; 0.60±0.20 cm in obesity without ms, and 0.27±0.12 cm in control group (p<0.001). interventricular septum thickness and left ventricular mass values were markedly high in obesity without ms group (p<0.001 and p=0.002). conclusion: our study has indicated that obesity has unfavorable effects on heart starting in the adolescence.