Pericoronary adipose tissue differences among plaque types: a retrospective assessment

To assess differences in pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) in patients with different plaque types by using several quantitative parameters of PCAT and investigate the relationship between PCAT and different plaque types.

We retrospectively recruited 488 patients diagnosed with stable coronary artery disease (CAD) via coronary computed tomographic angiography, including 279 with calcified plaques (CP), 153 with non-calcified plaques (NCP), and 56 with mixed plaques (MP). Volume, fat attenuation index (FAI), and 10^th percentile, 90^th percentile, median, and minimum Hounsfield unit (HU) values of PCAT surrounding plaques were quantified. Clinical features and quantitative PCAT parameters were compared between different plaque types.

No intergroup differences were observed for age, sex, body mass index, risk factors, and plaque location. Length and PCAT volume in the NCP group were lower than those of the CP and MP groups (P < 0.001), whereas there were no significant differences between the CP and MP groups (P > 0.05). Patients with NCP and MP had a higher FAI and 10^th percentile, 90^th percentile, median, and minimum HU values of PCAT than CP (P < 0.001); however these values were not significantly different between the NCP and MP groups (P > 0.05).

The quantitative parameters of PCAT, as a biosensor for CAD, vary among the different plaque types.