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Evaluation of cardiovascular changes in patients with gastric wall fat halo sign
Ali Küpeli1, Eser Bulut1, Edhem Ünver2
1Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, Trabzon Kanuni Training and Research Hospital, Trabzon, Turkey.
Insights
The gastric wall fat halo sign on thoracic CT is linked to increased cardiovascular disease risk factors. This finding suggests a potential indicator for higher visceral fat and associated cardiac and vascular abnormalities.
Area of Science:
- Radiology
- Cardiovascular Imaging
- Gastroenterology
Background:
- The gastric wall fat halo sign is a finding on thoracic computed tomography (CT).
- Its association with cardiovascular disease (CVD) requires further investigation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between the gastric wall fat halo sign and potentially associated cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Main Methods:
- A case-control study compared 62 patients with the gastric wall fat halo sign to 62 controls using thoracic CT.
- Data collected included anthropometrics, comorbidities, cardiac and vascular measurements, and calcium scores.
Main Results:
- Patients with the sign showed significantly larger aortic and pulmonary artery diameters, cardiac axes, and higher cardiothoracic ratio (CTR).
- Elevated aorta and coronary artery calcium scores, higher lipid profiles, and increased frequencies of diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HT) were observed.
- No significant differences in sex, age, height, weight, or BMI were found between groups.
Conclusions:
- The gastric wall fat halo sign may indicate increased cardiovascular risk.
- This risk is associated with increased visceral fat, larger vascular and cardiac dimensions, and common CVD risk factors like DM and HT.
Background:
This study aims to investigate the relationship between gastric wall fat halo sign and potentially associated cardiovascular disease (CVD) in thoracic computed tomography (CT).
Methods:
Between October 2020 and January 2021, 62 patients with gastric wall fat halo sign and 62 controls were evaluated with thorax CT. Patient's height, weight, body mass index (BMI), sex, age, comorbidities, laboratory parameters, diameters of cardiac axes, aorta and pulmonary artery; aorta and coronary artery calcium scores were recorded for the two groups.
Results:
No significant differences were found in sex, age, height, body weight or BMI between the two groups (p > 0.124). Patients with gastric wall fat halo sign had significantly larger diameters of the ascending aorta, the descending aorta, the main pulmonary artery, the right and left pulmonary arteries, and the short and long cardiac axes and a higher cardiothoracic ratio (CTR) than the control group (p < 0.001). Additionally, the calcium scores of the ascending, arcus, and descending aortas and the coronary arteries were significantly higher detected in patients group (p < 0.001). Patient group had significantly higher lipid profile, frequencies of diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HT) than control group (p<0.026).
Discussion:
Patients with a gastric wall fat halo may show higher cardiovascular risk because of increased visceral fat tissue, vascular diameters, CTR, heart sizes, presence of DM, HT, increased lipid profile and calcium scores.
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