Presence, Characteristics, and Volumes of Coronary Plaque Determined by Computed Tomography Angiography in Young Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Prevention and management of coronary artery disease (CAD) is of great concern in patients with diabetes mellitus. Although the impact of coronary atherosclerosis described well for individuals over 40 years of age, the prevalence and types of coronary atherosclerosis in young patients is not well-known. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence, extent, severity and volumes of coronary plaque in type 2 DM (T2DM) population under the age of 40 years. This prospective study enrolled 181 individuals (25-40 years old) undergoing coronary CT angiography, with 86 T2DM and 95 non-diabetic age/sex matched individuals. Coronary artery calcium (CAC), plaque assessment including total segment stenosis (sum of individual segmental stenosis-TSS), total plaque scores (sum of semi-quantitative segmental plaque burden-TPS), segment involvement scores (number of segments with plaque-SIS) were evaluated. Also, we quantitatively measured plaque volumes in total, fibrous, fibrous fatty, dense calcified, and low attenuation plaque using novel plaque software. Compared to non-diabetic patients, the prevalence of CAD, calcified and non-calcified plaques, was higher in T2DM patients (19% vs. 58%; p