Abstract: This study sought to investigate for an association between visceral adipose fat and coronary artery calcium score (CACS) in post-mortem individuals, with a focus where the primary cause of death was secondary to heart related conditions. Numerous studies have established a relationship between visceral fat with cardiovascular disease (CVD) with CACS having shown a relationship with vessel plaque burden, thus providing an indication of the severity of coronary atherosclerosis. 163 deceased patients underwent post mortem computerised tomography (CT) scanning in the setting of sudden death. Causes of death were categorised into coronary heart disease (CHD), ischaemic heart disease (IHD), or non-cardiac related causes. CACS was numerically classified as mild (0-10), moderate (10-100), moderate-severe (100-400), or at least 1 probable stenosis (>400). Though post-mortem CACS may be a useful assessment tool to assist in predicting the likely cause of death the measure used isn’t representative of visceral fat when compared to CACS.

Keywords : Calcium score, Computerised Tomography (CT) scan, Coronary Heart Disease, Ischaemic Heart Disease, Visceral fat.