Epicardial Fat Thickness May be Used in the Differential Diagnosis of Atrioventricular Nodal Re-entrant and Atrioventricular Re-entrant Tachycardia

Abstract

Introduction: Epicardial fat thickness (EFT) is known to play a role in arrhythmic events. In this study, we analysed the feasibility of using EFT in the differential diagnosis of supraventricular arrhythmias. Patients and Methods: A total of 259 patients were included in the study, all of whom had applied to our outpatient clinic with palpitation complaints or who had been diagnosed with SVT by surface electrocardiogram (ECG) and had undergone complete electrophysiological studies (EPS). The patients' demographic and echocardiography data along with their EPS-based diagnoses were recorded. Results: We included 88 control patients, 95 atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia (AVNRT) patients and 65 atrioventricular re-entrant tachycardia (AVRT) patients. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) data showed that the EFT in AVRT group was increased significantly (p= 0.001). In multinomial logistic regression analysis, EFT was identified as an independent predictor (OR:2.2 95% CI: 1.456-5.478, p< 0.001). receiver operating characteristic analysis showed that, when EFT is given at 15 mm, AVNRT and AVRT differentiation can be performed with 77.3% sensitivity and 58.9% specificity. Conclusion: EFT may be increased in patients with AVRT and can be used in differential diagnoses.