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Is there an association between coronary artery inflammation and coronary atherosclerotic burden?

Mengyuan Jing1,2,3,4, Huaze Xi1,2,3,4, Hao Zhu1,2,3,4

  • 1Department of Radiology, Lanzhou University Second Hospital, Lanzhou, China.

Quantitative Imaging in Medicine and Surgery
|September 15, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Coronary artery inflammation, assessed by pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) attenuation, does not directly correlate with coronary atherosclerotic burden (CAC score). However, inflammation was highest in coronary artery disease patients with a CAC score of 0.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Radiology
  • Biomedical Engineering

Background:

  • Assessing adverse cardiac event risk involves evaluating coronary artery inflammation and atherosclerotic burden.
  • The correlation between these two factors remains unclear.
  • This study investigates the relationship between coronary inflammation and atherosclerotic burden.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the potential relationship between coronary artery inflammation and coronary atherosclerotic burden.
  • To determine if coronary artery inflammation correlates with coronary atherosclerotic burden.

Main Methods:

  • 346 patients underwent CT scans to assess pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT) attenuation and Agatston coronary artery calcium (CAC) scores.
  • PCAT attenuation measured coronary inflammation, while CAC scores evaluated atherosclerotic burden.
  • Patients were grouped by CAC score (0, ≥10, ≥100, ≥400) and CAD presence.

Main Results:

  • Coronary artery disease (CAD) patients exhibited significantly higher PCAT attenuation than non-CAD patients.
  • CAD patients with a CAC score of 0 showed higher PCAT attenuation compared to non-CAD patients with CAC 0 and CAD patients with CAC > 0.
  • No significant differences in PCAT attenuation were found across different CAC scores, but it was highest in CAD patients with CAC 0.

Conclusions:

  • A direct relationship between coronary inflammation and atherosclerotic burden is not evident.
  • Coronary inflammation was most pronounced in CAD patients with a CAC score of 0.
  • CAC score did not demonstrate an association with coronary inflammation.
Abstract

Keywords:
Pericoronary adipose tissue (PCAT)coronary artery calcium (CAC)coronary artery disease (CAD)coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA)

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