Turkish Journal of Geriatrics 2025 , Vol 28, Issue 2
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EPICARDIAL AND PARACARDIAL FAT THICKNESS AND DISEASE SEVERITY IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC OBSTRUCTIVE PULMONARY DISEASE
Gülhan AYHAN ALBAYRAK1, Mustafa İLTERİŞ BARDAKÇI1, Goncagül BÜLBÜN2
1Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, Health Sciences University, Department of Chest Diseases, İstanbul, Turkey
2ÅžiÅŸli Hamidiye Etfal Training and Research Hospital, Health Sciences University, Department of Radiology, istanbul, Turkey
DOI : 10.29400/tjgeri.2025.429 Introduction: Cardiovascular diseases are frequently observed in patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The Body-mass index, aırflow Obstruction, Dyspnea and Exercise index was used to assess the prognosis of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Although epicardial fat thickness is associated with cardiovascular diseases, few studies have investigated its relationship with the Body-mass index, aırflow Obstruction, Dyspnea and Exercise index. Therefore, we investigated this relationship in patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Materials and Method: We enrolled 78 patients with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 65 healthy controls. All patients underwent pulmonary function tests and a six-minute walk test. We used thoracic computerized tomography at admission to measure the epicardial and paracardial fat thickness. Participants" demographic data (age, sex, body mass index, and smoking status) and biochemical parameters (e.g., glucose, urea, creatinine) were measured.

Results: The epicardial fat thickness values of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease were higher than those of the control group (p < 0.05). The B-Modified Medical Research Council dyspnea scale scores and Body-mass index, aırflow Obstruction, Dyspnea and Exercise indices did not differ significantly between the low and high paracardial fat thickness/body mass index ratios.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated an independent and negative relationship between epicardial fat thickness with the Body-mass index, aırflow Obstruction, Dyspnea and Exercise index, which indicates the severity of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Keywords : Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive; Epicardial Adipose Tissue; Severity of Illness Index