Background
In patients without coronary artery disease (CAD), few studies have evaluated the association between mean pericoronary adipose tissue attenuation (PCAT
MA
) and patient-based demographic factors, for example, age or sex. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the association between PCAT
MA
and various demographic factors in patients without CAD.
Methods
In this case-control study, the 806 patients who underwent coronary computed tomography angiography and were not diagnosed with CAD between July 2020 and July 2022 were retrospectively enrolled. Their PCAT
MA
values of the proximal right coronary artery were measured automatically. Patients without CAD were stratified according to sex, body mass index (BMI), and age, and the relationship between PCAT
MA
and different clinical characteristics was explored using Fisher’s exact test or Chi-squared test and independent
t
-tests or Wilcoxon Mann-Whitney
U
tests.
Results
Compared to non-smoking women [−88.00 (−95.00, −81.00) HU], women who smoked [−84.00 (−94.00, −78.00) HU, P=0.037] had higher PCAT
MA
values and a positive correlation with PCAT
MA
(rs=0.101, P=0.036). Compared to non-hypertensive patients with BMI ≥24.91 kg/m
2
[−87.00 (−95.00, −81.00) HU], hypertensive patients with BMI ≥24.91 kg/m
2
[−84.00 (−92.00, −78.00) HU, P=0.004] had higher PCAT
MA
values, and a positive correlation with PCAT
MA
(rs=0.144, P=0.004). In a subgroup of patients without CAD stratified by sex, BMI, and age, PCAT
MA
values were all higher in patients with dyslipidemia (women, men, BMI ≥24.91 kg/m
2
, BMI <24.91 kg/m
2
, age ≥55 years, and age <55 years: −82.00, −82.00, −81.50, −82.00, −81.00 and −83.50 HU, respectively) than in those without dyslipidemia (−89.00, −89.00, −89.00, −90.00, −90.00 and −88.00 HU, respectively; all P<0.001) and showed a positive relationship (rs=0.328, 0.339, 0.342, 0.326, 0.367, and 0.298, respectively; all P<0.001).
Conclusions
Higher PCAT
MA
attenuation values were observed in patients with dyslipidemia, smoking women, and hypertensive patients with BMI ≥24.91 kg/m
2
, suggesting that PCAT
MA
values can be used to detect patients at high risk for future events with CAD even if they do not currently have atherosclerosis.