Journal of Clinical Medicine Research, ISSN 1918-3003 print, 1918-3011 online, Open Access
Article copyright, the authors; Journal compilation copyright, J Clin Med Res and Elmer Press Inc
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Original Article

Volume 18, Number 2, February 2026, pages 75-82

The Role of Epicardial Adipose Tissue in the Development of Atrial Fibrillation: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1. Flowchart of selection of studies for inclusion in the meta-analysis. MRI: magnetic resonance imaging.
Figure 2.
Figure 2. Difference in total epicardial fat (in mL) in the group of patients with AF compared to the group without AF. AF: atrial fibrillation; SMD: standardized mean difference; CI: confidence interval.
Figure 3.
Figure 3. Funnel plot for studies that evaluated the relationship between total EAT and AF. EAT: epicardial adipose tissue; AF: atrial fibrillation.
Figure 4.
Figure 4. Difference in periatrial epicardial fat (in mL) in the group of patients with AF compared to the group without AF. AF: atrial fibrillation; SMD: standardized mean difference; CI: confidence interval.

Table

Table 1. Characteristics of the Included Studies
 
Author (year)CountryStudy designNN with AFMean age (years)Male (%)BMI (kg/m2)MethodObject
BMI: body mass index; AF: atrial fibrillation; CT: computed tomography.
Tsao et al. 2016 [14]Republic of ChinaCross-sectional886863.476.525.2CTPeriatrial
Oba et al. 2018 [15]JapanCross-sectional31620464.072.025.8CTTotal
Maeda et al. 2018 [16]JapanCross-sectional2186164.967.226.0CTTotal
Monno et al. 2018 [17]JapanCross-sectional1042362.065.024.1CTTotal and periatrial
Ozbek et al. 2018 [18]TurkeyCross-sectional1493569.265.729.3CTTotal
Nikitin et al, 2021 [19]RussiaCross-sectional604555.255.531.3CTTotal and periatrial
Yang et al, 2022 [20]ChinaCross-sectional34817464.063.824.6CTTotal and periatrial
Sun et al, 2022 [21]ChinaCross-sectional492460.458.325.7CTPeriatrial
Shao et al, 2022 [22]ChinaCross-sectional27621462.066.825.1CTPeriatrial
Jian et al, 2022 [23]ChinaCross-sectional33723555.153.025.3CTTotal
Ilyushenkova et al, 2022 [24]RussiaCross-sectional431943.889.427.9CTTotal
Marinelli et al, 2023 [25]ItalyCross-sectional623127.990.324.3CTTotal and periatrial
Deng et al, 2023 [26]ChinaCross-sectional672461.679.225.7CTTotal