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Bariatric surgery yielded larger decrease in paracardial fat than epicardial fat
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Patients who experienced weight loss as an outcome of bariatric surgery saw a decrease in abdominal and pericardial fat depots, with a higher relative decrease of visceral and paracardial fat volumes, according to recent study findings.
However, the researchers did not see an improvement in cardiovascular function or myocardial triglyceride content after Roux en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery.
Linda D. van Schinkel, MD, of the departments of general internal medicine, endocrinology and metabolism, Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues assessed myocardial triglyceride content, pericardial fat and cardiac function in patients with obesity and insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes.
The researchers assessed 10 patients before and 16 weeks after RYGB surgery. Forty percent of the patients were men and their mean age was 53.7 years. MRI was used to assess ectopic fat accumulation and CV function. MR spectroscopy was used to assess myocardial triglyceride content.
Sixteen months after surgery, BMI was 34.1 ± 2.8 vs. 41.3 ± 4.3 at baseline (P<.001), and improvements were seen in glycemic control.
Paracardial fat volume had a greater relative decrease (–17.3 ± 17.2%) compared with epicardial fat volume (–6.4 ± 6%). Visceral fat volume also had a greater relative decrease (–35.5 ± 9.6%) compared with subcutaneous fat volume (–25 ± 6.3%).
“These findings contribute to the existing evidence suggesting tissue-specific changes in body fat distribution after weight loss and exercise interventions. However, the decrease in pericardial fat did not lead to improved cardiovascular function after the RYGB surgery,” the researchers wrote.
“Our study was successful in showing substantial changes of bariatric surgery on ectopic fat accumulation and in particular provided new data on fat distribution in epi- and paracardial fat,” they wrote.
Disclosure: Funding was received from the Netherlands Heart Foundation. This study was performed within the framework of the Center for Translational Molecular Medicine; project PREDICCt. The study was performed with an unrestricted grant from the Dutch Obesity Clinic.
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