Abstract
Introduction — Overweight and obesity are recognized as significant risk factors for adverse outcomes after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). One of the key mechanisms linking obesity to the progression of cardiovascular pathology is endothelial dysfunction, marked by reduced nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability. Objective — To evaluate the association between epicardial fat thickness (EFT), NO levels, and echocardiographic parameters in overweight patients during cardiac rehabilitation after CABG. Methods — We enrolled 155 post-CABG patients stratified by body mass index (BMI). Clinical and demographic characteristics, plasma NO levels, and echocardiographic parameters were assessed. Regression analysis was used to identify predictors. Results — Overweight patients exhibited a statistically significant increase in EFT and a decrease in plasma NO levels compared to normal-weight patients (p