BackgroundOver the past years, information about the crosstalk between the epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) and the cardiovascular system has emerged. Notably, in the context of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), EAT might have a potential role in the pathophysiology of ventricular structural changes and function, and the clinical evolution of patients. This study aims to assess the impact of EAT on morpho-functional changes in the left ventricle (LV) and the outcome of patients after an AMI.MethodsWe studied prospectively admitted patients to our hospital with a first episode of AMI. All patients underwent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) during admission. Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) was performed within 24–48 h after PCI, as well as blood samples to assess levels of galectin-3 (Gal-3). Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) was performed 5–7 days after PCI. Clinical follow-up was performed at 1 and 5 years after MI.ResultsMean age of our cohort (n = 41) was 57.5 ± 10 years, and 38 (93%) were male. Nine patients had normal BMI, 15 had overweight (BMI 25–30), and 17 were obese (BMI > 30). Twenty three patients (56%) had ≥ 4 mm thickness of EAT measured with echo. In these patients, baseline left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) after AMI was significantly lower, as well as global longitudinal strain. EAT thickness ≥ 4 m patients presented larger infarct size, higher extracellular volume, and higher T1 times than patients with EAT < 4 mm. As for Gal-3, the median was 16.5 ng/mL [12.7–25.2]. At five-year follow-up 5 patients had major cardiac events, and all of them had EAT ≥ 4 mm.ConclusionsPatients with EAT >4 mm have worse LVEF and GLS, larger infarct size and longer T1 values after a MI, and higher levels of Gal-3. EAT >4 mm was an independent predictor of MACE at 5-year follow-up. EAT thickness is a feasible, noninvasive, low-cost parameter that might provide important information regarding the chronic inflammatory process in the myocardium after an infarction.

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More than 91,000 fatalities due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) have occurred in Spain. Several factors are associated with increased mortality in this disease, including cardiovascular risk factors (CVRF). However, information on the cardiac function of patients prior to the onset of COVID-19 is scarce and the potential impact it may have is uncertain. The aim of the EchoVID study was to describe the potential association between CVRF and cardiac function status prior to SARS-CoV-2 infection and in-hospital mortality. We studied clinical characteristics and cardiac function of patients admitted during the first wave of COVID-19. All patients had a transthoracic echocardiogram performed in the previous 12 months prior to diagnosis; conventional systolic and diastolic function parameters were analyzed. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify predictors of in-hospital mortality. We included 296 individuals. Median age was higher in the group of patients who died (81.0 vs 76.1 years; p = 0.007). No significant differences were found in CVRF. Survivors were more frequently receiving anticoagulation therapy (52.9% vs 70.8%; p = 0.003). LVEF, although preserved on average in both groups, was significantly lower in the group of deceased patients (56.9% vs 61.1%; p = 0.017). Average E/e′ ratio was higher in the deceased group (11.1 vs 10.1; p = 0.049). Five variables were found to be independently associated with in-hospital mortality due to COVID-19: Age, male gender, LVEF, E/e′ ratio and anticoagulation therapy. A model including these variables had an area under the ROC curve of 0.756 (CI 0.669–0.843). The echocardiographic variables included in the model significantly improved the discriminative power, compared to a model including only demographic data. Left ventricular ejection fraction and E/e′ ratio prior to SARS-CoV-2 infection are two easily-obtained echocardiographic parameters that provide additional prognostic information over clinical factors when assessing patients admitted for SARS-CoV-2 infection.