<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Atrial fibrillation is the most frequent arrhythmia in adults, becoming more frequent with age. Recent clinical studies demonstrated that epicardial fat is linked with atrial fibrillation induction and recurrence. The arrhythmogenic mechanism consists in the fact that the epicardial adipose tissue is metabolically active, inducing local inflammation and enhancing the oxidative stress, which lead to atrial fibrillation as well as atherosclerosis. Having metabolic activity and secreting various anti- and pro-inflammatory biomarkers, the fat surrounding the heart has been linked to the complex process of coronary plaque vulnerabilization. This clinical update aims to summarize the role of epicardial adipose tissue in the pathogenesis, persistence, and severity of atrial fibrillation.</p></abstract>

Atrial fibrillation is the most frequent arrhythmia in adults, becoming more frequent with age. Recent clinical studies demonstrated that epicardial fat is linked with atrial fibrillation induction and recurrence. The arrhythmogenic mechanism consists in the fact that the epicardial adipose tissue is metabolically active, inducing local inflammation and enhancing the oxidative stress, which lead to atrial fibrillation as well as atherosclerosis. Having metabolic activity and secreting various anti- and pro-inflammatory biomarkers, the fat surrounding the heart has been linked to the complex process of coronary plaque vulnerabilization. This clinical update aims to summarize the role of epicardial adipose tissue in the pathogenesis, persistence, and severity of atrial fibrillation.

Epicardial Fat, Paracrine-mediated Inflammation and Atrial Fibrillation

Center of Advanced Research in Multimodality Cardiac Imaging, Cardio Med Medical Center

Clinic of Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation Unit

Journal of Interdisciplinary Medicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"Epicardial Fat, Paracrine-mediated Inflammation and Atrial Fibrillation"}

Atrial fibrillation is the most frequent arrhythmia in adults, becoming more frequent with age. Recent clinical studies demonstrated that epicardial fat is...

Epicardial Fat, Paracrine-mediated Inflammation and Atrial Fibrillation

Published Online: Mar 20, 2018

Page range: 304 - 307

Received: Oct 15, 2017

Accepted: Dec 10, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jim-2017-0090

Keywords
atrial fibrillation, pericardial fat, inflammation, noninvasive cardiac imaging

© 2017 Nora Rat et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Epicardial Fat, Paracrine-mediated Inflammation and Atrial Fibrillation

Published Online: Mar 20, 2018

Page range: 304 - 307

Received: Oct 15, 2017

Accepted: Dec 10, 2017

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/jim-2017-0090

Keywordsatrial fibrillation, pericardial fat, inflammation, noninvasive cardiac imaging

© 2017 Nora Rat et al., published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
atrial fibrillation, pericardial fat, inflammation, noninvasive cardiac imaging