Echocardiographic abnormalities in normotensive obese patients: relationship with visceral fat.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the relationship of echocardiographic characteristics and visceral adipose tissue (VAT) distribution in normotensive obese patients.


METHODS
Echocardiographic parameters were assessed in 28 normotensive obese patients [7 men, 21 women, mean age, 43.2 years; mean body mass index (BMI), 37.2 kg/m(2); 10 with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT); 6 with type 2 diabetes] and 18 sex- and age-matched healthy, normal-weight controls (4 men, 14 women; mean age, 45.8 years; mean BMI, 22.4 kg/m(2)) by an M-mode, color-doppler videofluoroscope. VAT in the obese patients was assessed by computed tomography (at L4 level).


RESULTS
The obese patients had a significantly larger internal diastolic left ventricular (LV) diameter (p < 0.05), a thicker end-diastolic septum (p < 0.001) and posterior wall (p < 0.001), a greater indexed (g/m(2.7)) LV mass (p < 0.001), a higher atrial diastolic filling wave velocity (p < 0.001), a lower ratio between early and atrial diastolic filling wave velocities (p < 0.01), and a prolonged isovolumic relaxation time (p < 0.05). End-diastolic septum and posterior wall thickness and the LV mass were significantly greater in patients with a VAT area >130 cm(2) than with <130 cm(2). In the multivariate regression analysis, only VAT (p < 0.0001), waist-to-hip ratio (p < 0.001), and sex (p < 0.001) were associated with the most important echocardiographic alterations.


CONCLUSIONS
The morphological and functional echocardiographic alterations usually found in normotensive obese patients closely correlate with the amount of intra-abdominal fat deposition, even in the presence of diabetes or IGT.
Morricone
Lelio
L
Department of Endocrinology, Institute of Medical and Surgical Sciences, S. Donato Hospital, University of Milan, Italy. lelio.morricone@libero.it
Malavazos
Alexis Elias
AE
Coman
Calin
C
Donati
Cristina
C
Hassan
Tamin
T
Caviezel
Francesco
F
D000273:Adipose Tissue; D000328:Adult; D001794:Blood Pressure; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D018618:Echocardiography, Doppler, Color; D005260:Female; D005471:Fluoroscopy; D018149:Glucose Intolerance; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed; D014781:Viscera