The Effect of Statin and Colchicine on Pericoronary Adipose Tissue Inflammation and Coronary Artery Plaque Progression: Insights from Cardiac Computed Tomography Using Pericoronary Adipose Tissue Attenuation and Radiomics

Atherosclerosis is the harmful buildup of cholesterol plaques in arteries, which can lead to heart attacks. Inflammation contributes to the formation of these plaques and alters the characteristics of the fat layer surrounding the arteries, which can now be detected on CT scans of the heart. Currently, it is still unclear how to select patients with high levels of inflammation who would benefit most from targeted therapies such as statins and colchicine. This thesis combines CT imaging with state-of-the-art software to investigate the impact of statins and colchicine on inflammation in the fat surrounding the heart arteries.