Abstract 12314: Clinical Determinants of Low Attenuation Epicardial Adipose Tissue Volume in Type 2 Diabetes

Introduction: The accumulation of excess epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) is associated with the onset of specific heart failure phenotypes. Subsets of adipocytes in EAT produce an inflammatory secretome which alters the extracellular matrix of the epicardium and impairs myocardial contractility. Lipid-laden adipocytes have a low computed tomography (CT) attenuation and can be readily identified using cardiac CT. Objective: This study sought to identify the clinical and biomarker determinants of low attenuation EAT in participants with Type 2 diabetes (T2D) at risk of heart failure. Methods: Participants with T2D and non-diabetic controls were prospectively recruited to an observational multi-modality cardiovascular imaging study. Deep learning analytics (QFAT, Cedars-Sinai) measured EAT volume and CT attenuation from cardiac CT datasets. Adipose tissue with CT attenuation values of -90 to -190 Hounsfield Units (HU) were classified as low attenuation EAT regions. Comparison was made with anthropometric and blood biomarkers to evaluate determinants of low attenuation EAT. Results: Type 2 diabetic (n=151, median age 64 (59, 69) years, 65% male) and non-diabetic individuals (n=39, median age 59 (54, 66.5) years, 59% male) were recruited. Total EAT volume indexed to body surface area was 1.6-fold higher in diabetics (62.4 (49.1, 77.7) cm 3 /m 2 vs 38.8 (29.6, 51.9) cm 3 /m 2 , p 2 = 0.2003, p Conclusions: In patients with T2D, indexed EAT volumes are 1.6-fold higher with a lower mean CT attenuation. Age, white ethnicity and waist circumference are associated with low attenuation EAT. Prospective studies are required to determine whether interventions to reduce low attenuation EAT will prevent the onset of heart failure.