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Assessment of epicardial adipose tissue volume and carotid intima-media thickness in children with primary arterial hypertension by magnetic resonance imaging

Nina Schweighofer

Nina Schweighofer

  • Department of Radiology, University Medical Centre MariborMaribor, Slovenia
  • Medical Faculty, University of MariborMaribor, Slovenia
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Schweighofer, Nina
, 
Natasa Marcun Varda

Natasa Marcun Varda

  • Department of Pediatrics, University Medical Centre MariborMaribor, Slovenia
  • Medical Faculty, University of MariborMaribor, Slovenia
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Varda, Natasa Marcun
, 
Primoz Caf

Primoz Caf

Department of Radiology, University Medical Centre MariborMaribor, Slovenia
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Caf, Primoz
, 
Mitja Rupreht

Mitja Rupreht

  • Department of Radiology, University Medical Centre MariborMaribor, Slovenia
  • Medical Faculty, University of MariborMaribor, Slovenia
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Rupreht, Mitja
, 
Vojko Kanic

Vojko Kanic

  • Department of Cardiology, University Medical Centre MariborMaribor, Slovenia
  • Medical Faculty, University of MariborMaribor, Slovenia
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Kanic, Vojko
 and 
Petra Povalej Brzan

Petra Povalej Brzan

  • Medical Faculty, University of MariborMaribor, Slovenia
  • Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer ScienceMaribor, Slovenia
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Brzan, Petra Povalej
  
May 14, 2025
Assessment of epicardial adipose tissue volume and carotid intima-media thickness in children with primary arterial hypertension by magnetic resonance imaging's Cover Image
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Article Category: Research Article
Published Online: May 14, 2025
Page range: 319 - 328
Received: Dec 23, 2024
Accepted: Mar 21, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/raon-2025-0030
Keywords
© 2025 Nina Schweighofer et al., published by Sciendo
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

FIGURE 1.

Cine segmented steady-state free-precession MRI of the heart in 14-years-old boy diagnosed with arterial hypertension. Contours of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) are outlined by hand on end diastolic short-axis image. The EAT volume (EATV) is 14.89 cm3.
Cine segmented steady-state free-precession MRI of the heart in 14-years-old boy diagnosed with arterial hypertension. Contours of epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) are outlined by hand on end diastolic short-axis image. The EAT volume (EATV) is 14.89 cm3.

FIGURE 2.

The MR imaging of the common right carotid artery. T1-weighted dark blood fast-spin echo pulse sequence demonstrated adequate soft tissue contrast. The intimamedia thickness of the vessel wall is outlined.
The MR imaging of the common right carotid artery. T1-weighted dark blood fast-spin echo pulse sequence demonstrated adequate soft tissue contrast. The intimamedia thickness of the vessel wall is outlined.

FIGURE 3.

The MR imaging of the right common carotid artery. The measurements of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in a healthy 14-year-old boy. The calculated average cIMT was 0.3 mm.
The MR imaging of the right common carotid artery. The measurements of carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) in a healthy 14-year-old boy. The calculated average cIMT was 0.3 mm.

FIGURE 4.

Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and area under the curve (AUC) values were used to assess the performance of potential predictors for hypertension. cIMT = carotid intima-media thickness; EATV = epicardial adipose tissue volume
Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and area under the curve (AUC) values were used to assess the performance of potential predictors for hypertension. cIMT = carotid intima-media thickness; EATV = epicardial adipose tissue volume

Regression models for predicting cardiac intima-media thickness (cIMT) based on age, gender, body surface area (BSA), epicardial adipose tissue volume (EATV) and the presence of hypertension

Model 1 β (SE) Model 2 β (SE)
Constant -0.285 (0.110) -0.175 (0.042)
EATV 0.050 (0.007)* 0.053 (0.003)*
Age -0.001 (0.006)
Gender (female) 0.014 (0.025)
BSA 0.087 (0.070)
Hypertension (yes) 0.008 (0.045)
R-squared 0.822 0.818
Adjusted R-squared 0.809 0.815
Number of observations 72 72

Regression models for predicting carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) based on age, sex, body surface area (BSA) and the presence of hypertension

Model 1 β (SE) Model 2 β (SE) Model 3 β (SE)
Constant -0.221 (0.141) -0.218 (0.124) -0.144 (0.114)
Age 0.011 (0.008) 0.011 (0.008)
Gender (female) 0.001 (0.033)
BSA 0.260 (0.084)* 0.258 (0.074)* 0.313 (0.064)*
Hypertension (yes) 0.273 (0.026)* 0.273 (0.026)* 0.267 (0.026)*
R-squared 0.702 0.702 0.698
Adjusted R-squared 0.684 0.698 0.684
Number of observations 72 72 72

Predictors of hypertension

Predictor AUC (95% CI) Threshold Sen Spec PPV NPV
EATV 0.992 (0.981, 0.992) 13.545 0.944 0.972 0.971 0.946
cIMT 0.958 (0.917, 0.958) 0.550 0.917 0.944 0.943 0.919

Comparing epicardial adipose tissue volume and intima-media thickness between groups

All (N = 72) Children with AH (N = 36) Healthy children (N = 36) Test value (p-value)
Variable MV ± SD / M (IQR) MV ± SD / M (IQR) MV ± SD / M (IQR)
EATV (cm3) 13.7 ± 3.3 16.5 ± 1.9 10.9 ± 1.5 t = -13.815 (< 0.001)*
cIMT (mm) 0.5 (0.3) 0.7 (0.2) 0.4 (0.2) U = 54 (< 0.001)*
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Medicine, Clinical Medicine, Internal Medicine, Haematology, Oncology, Radiology
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