Increased epicardial fat thickness is related with body mass index in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

AIM: We aimed to investigate the relationship between PCOS and epicardial fat thickness with transthoracic echocardiography. PATIENTS AND METHODS: PCOS patients were divided into two groups according to the lean or obesity status: PCOS patients with lean 34 subjects (BMI: 23.3+/-2.8; mean age: 25.5+/-4), PCOS patients with obese16 subjects (BMI: 32.3+/-7.6; mean age: 27.2+/-3.7) were compared with control healthy lean subjects (BMI: 23.5+/-1.7; mean age: 25.9+/-2.2). RESULTS: There was increased epicardial thickness in obese PCOS subjects compared to lean PCOS subjects (6.3+/-0.9 mm, 4.7+/-0.5, respectively, p < 0.001). However, epicardial fat thickness between lean PCOS subjects and lean healthy control groups were not significantly varied (4.7+/-0.5 mm, 4.5+/-0.5, respectively, p = 0.6). There was increased epicardial thickness in obese PCOS subjects compared to lean healthy control subjects (6.3+/-0.9 mm, 4.5+/-0.5, respectively, p < 0.001). This sudy showed for the first time that increased epicardial fat thickness measured using transthoracic echocardiography is associated with increased BMI in PCOS subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Epicardial fat thickness between lean PCOS subjects and lean healty control group were similar which indicate the importance of obesity in PCOS subjects.