Left ventricular mass and risk of stroke in an elderly cohort. The Framingham Heart Study.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the association of echocardiographically determined left ventricular mass (LVM) with incidence of stroke or transient ischemic attack in an elderly cohort.


METHODS
Cohort study with a follow-up period of 8 years.


METHODS
Population-based sample.


METHODS
Elderly original cohort subjects of the Framingham Heart Study who were free of cerebrovascular disease and atrial fibrillation at the 16th biennial examination and who had adequate echocardiograms. This group consisted of 447 men (mean age, 67.8 years; range, 60 to 90 years) and 783 women (mean age, 69.2 years; range 59 to 90 years).


METHODS
Age-adjusted 8-year incidence of stroke was examined as a function of baseline quartiles of LVM-to-height ratio. Proportional hazards regression was used in multivariate analyses to assess risk of stroke as a function of LVM-to-height ratio quartile, adjusting for age, sex, systolic blood pressure, hypertension treatment, diabetes, cigarette smoking, and blood lipid levels.


RESULTS
Among the 1230 subjects eligible, 89 cerebrovascular disease events (62 strokes and 27 transient ischemic attacks) occurred during follow-up. In men, 8-year age-adjusted incidence of cerebrovascular events was 18.4% in the highest quartile of LVM-to-height ratio and 5.2% in the lowest quartile. Corresponding values in women were 12.2% and 2.9%. The hazard ratio for cerebrovascular events comparing highest to lowest quartile of LVM-to-height ratio was 2.72 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.39 to 5.36) after adjusting for age, sex, systolic blood pressure, hypertension treatment, diabetes, cigarette smoking, and the ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. After adjusting for age, sex, and cardiovascular disease risk factors, the hazard ratio for cerebrovascular events was 1.45 (95% CI, 1.17 to 1.80) for each quartile increment of LVM-to-height ratio.


CONCLUSIONS
Echocardiographically determined LVM-to-height ratio offers prognostic information beyond that provided by traditional cerebrovascular disease risk factors. Echocardiography provides information that facilitates identification of individuals at high risk for stroke and transient ischemic attack.
Bikkina
M
M
Framingham Heart Study, MA 01701.
Levy
D
D
Evans
J C
JC
Larson
M G
MG
Benjamin
E J
EJ
Wolf
P A
PA
Castelli
W P
WP
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002561:Cerebrovascular Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002546:Ischemic Attack, Transient / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016016:Proportional Hazards Models; D012307:Risk Factors; D014463:Ultrasonography