Relationship between abdominal visceral fat and lacunar infarcts in Japanese men

Background The relationship between abdominal visceral fat accumulation and lacunar infarcts has not been previously investigated in Japanese men. Methods and Results The subjects were 637 middle-aged (40-64 years) and 222 elderly (65-79 years) men who participated in a health checkup program from 1999 to 2003. The association between lacunar infarcts identified by magnetic resonance imaging and cardiovascular risk factors, including abdominal visceral fat accumulation evaluated by computed tomography, was examined. The prevalence of lacunar infarcts was 4.9%. Hypertension was associated with lacunar infarcts among both the middle-aged men [age-adjusted odds ratio (OR)=2.9 (95% confidence interval (CI): 1.1-7.8)] and the elderly men [OR=5.1 (95%CI: 1.4-19.0)]. Abdominal visceral fat accumulation was slightly associated with lacunar infarcts among middle-aged men, but not among elderly men: OR in the highest (greater than or equal to117 cm(2)) vs lowest (less than or equal to83 cm(2)) tertiles of fat area was 2.6 (95 %Cl: 0.9-7.6) for middle-aged men. Extreme accumulation of visceral fat (greater than or equal to143 cm(2)) was still slightly associated with lacunar infarcts after adjustment for age, hypertension, drinking and smoking among middle-aged men [OR=2.7 (95%CI: 0.8-9.1)]. Conclusions This cross-sectional study suggests that abdominal visceral fat accumulation is a possible risk factor of lacunar infarcts, in addition to hypertension, in middle-aged Japanese men.