Relationship of cardiovascular risk factors, pericardial fat, and carotid thickness with coronary plaque type in patients with diabetes mellitus.

Abstract

Background: There is paucity of data on the potential predictors of coronary plaque types among patients with diabetes mellitus(DM).

Aims: To assess the association of cardiovascular risk factors, pericardial fat volume (PFV) assessed by multi-detector CT(MDCT)angiography, and internal carotid intima media thickness with coronary atherosclerotic plaque types in patients with type 2 DM.

Patients and methods: Patients with suspected coronary artery disease who underwent 64-slice MDCT angiography were enrolled in this retrospective study.

Results: A total of 784 patients were enrolled in this study, 198 of whom had DM and 586 of whom did not. The prevalence of calcified and mixed plaques was significantly higher in the DM group than without DM group, while no significant difference was found in the distribution of non-calcified plaque between groups. There was significant association between smoking [OR(CI) = 4(2-10),P = 0.001] and increased age[OR(CI) = 1.1(1-1.3),P = 0.023] and calcified plaque presence. Regarding mixed and non-calcified plaque, increased PFV[OR(CI) = 1.1(1-1.3),P = 0.001] and positive family history[OR(CI) = 4(2-12),P = 0.049] showed a significant association with coronary mixed plaque presence while no significant association was observed between cardiovascular risk factors, PFV, and internal carotid intima media thickness and non-calcified plaque presence in patients with DM.

Conclusion: Increased PFV showed significant and independent association with mixed coronary plaques development, which suggests that PFV may be used as an imaging marker for early detection of increased risk for future coronary events in patients with DM.