title: Comparison of aortic elasticity determined by cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging in obese versus lean adults.
abstract: The vascular properties of large vessels in the obese have not been adequately studied. We used cardiovascular magnetic resonance imaging to quantify the cross-sectional area and elastic properties of the ascending thoracic and abdominal aorta in 21 clinically healthy obese young adult men and 25 men who were age-matched lean controls. Obese subjects had greater maximal cross-sectional area of the ascending thoracic aorta (984 +/- 252 vs 786 +/- 109 mm(2), p <0.01) and of the abdominal aorta (415 +/- 71 vs 374 +/- 51 mm(2), p <0.05). When indexed for height the differences persisted, but when indexed for body surface area, a significant difference between groups was found only for the maximal abdominal aortic cross-sectional area. The obese subjects also had decreased abdominal aortic elasticity, characterized by 24% lower compliance (0.0017 +/- 0.0004 vs 0.0021 +/- 0.0005 mm(2)/kPa/mm, p <0.01), 22% higher stiffness index beta (6.0 +/- 1.5 vs 4.9 +/- 0.7, p <0.005), and 41% greater pressure-strain elastic modulus (72 +/- 25 vs 51 +/- 9, p <0.005). At the ascending thoracic aorta, only the pressure-strain elastic modulus was different between obese and lean subjects (85 +/- 42 vs 65 +/- 26 kPa, respectively; p <0.05), corresponding to a 31% difference-but arterial compliance and stiffness index were not significantly different between groups. In clinically healthy young adult obese men, obesity is associated with increased cross-sectional aortic area and decreased aortic elasticity.
authors.affiliation: Cardiovascular, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. pdanias@caregroup.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Peter G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Danias
authors.forename: Nicholas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Tritos
authors.forename: Matthias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Stuber
authors.forename: Rene M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Botnar
authors.forename: Kraig V
authors.initials: KV
authors.lastname: Kissinger
authors.forename: Warren J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Manning
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001012:Aorta, Abdominal / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D001013:Aorta, Thoracic / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004548:Elasticity; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*