Impact of metabolic syndrome on left ventricular mass in overweight and obese hypertensive subjects.
BACKGROUND
Metabolic syndrome (MS) has been associated with an increased left ventricular (LV) mass in recent reports. Little is known about the association of MS with LV mass (LVM) in overweight and obese individuals. The aim of our study was to investigate the relation between MS and LVM in a population of overweight and obese hypertensive subjects.


METHODS
289 non-diabetic essential hypertensives with a body mass index >25 kg/m2, were enrolled. In all subjects routine blood chemistry, echocardiographic examination and 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring were performed.


RESULTS
In the group of overweight patients, participants with MS (n=58), when compared to those without it (n=127), exhibited significantly greater LVM indexed for height(2.7) (LVMH(2.7)) (50+/-12 vs 44+/-11 g/m(2.7); p=0.0001), even after controlling for age, gender and 24-h systolic blood pressure. Similar results were obtained in the group of obese individuals, being LVMH(2.7) (56+/-12 vs 44+/-9 g/m(2.7); p<0.0001) greater in subjects with MS (n=77) than in those without MS (n=27), even after adjustment for age, gender and clinic systolic blood pressure. The independent association of MS with LVMH(2.7) in overall study population was confirmed by linear multiple regression analyses (beta=0.20; p=0.0004).


CONCLUSIONS
MS seems to increase LVM over and above the potential contribution of blood pressure, body size and other single components of this syndrome. Since LV hypertrophy is a well-known predictor of cardiovascular events, our results may partly explain the enhanced cardiovascular risk associated with MS.
Mulè
Giuseppe
G
Dipartimento di Medicina Interna, Malattie Cardiovascolari e Nefrourologiche, Centro Ipertensione, Università di Palermo, Italy. giusemme@unipa.it
Nardi
Emilio
E
Cottone
Santina
S
Cusimano
Paola
P
Incalcaterra
Francesca
F
Giandalia
Maria Ester
ME
Palermo
Alessandro
A
Mezzatesta
Giovanni
G
Cerasola
Giovanni
G
D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications*; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications*; D050177:Overweight; D012307:Risk Factors