title: The association of left ventricular hypertrophy with metabolic syndrome is dependent on body mass index in hypertensive overweight or obese patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Overweight (Ow) and obesity (Ob) influence blood pressure (BP) and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). It is unclear whether the presence of metabolic syndrome (MetS) independently affects echocardiographic parameters in hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  380 Ow/Ob essential hypertensive patients (age ≤ 65 years) presenting for referred BP control-related problems. MetS was defined according to NCEP III/ATP with AHA modifications and LVH as LVM/h(2.7) ≥ 49.2 g/m(2.7) in males and ≥ 46.7 g/m(2.7) in females. Treatment intensity score (TIS) was used to control for BP treatment as previously reported.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hypertensive patients with MetS had significantly higher BMI, systolic and mean BP, interventricular septum and relative wall thickness and lower ejection fraction than those without MetS. LVM/h(2.7) was significantly higher in MetS patients (59.14 ± 14.97 vs. 55.33 ± 14.69 g/m(2.7); p = 0.022). Hypertensive patients with MetS had a 2.3-fold higher risk to have LVH/h(2.7) after adjustment for age, SBP and TIS (OR 2.34; 95%CI 1.40-3.92; p = 0.001), but MetS lost its independent relationship with LVH when BMI was included in the model.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In Ow/Ob hypertensive patients MetS maintains its role of risk factor for LVH independently of age, SBP, and TIS, resulting in a useful predictor of target organ damage in clinical practice. However, MetS loses its independent relationship when BMI is taken into account, suggesting that the effects on MetS on LV parameters are mainly driven by the degree of adiposity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine and Cardiovascular Diseases, Hypertension Excellence Centre of the European Society of Hypertension, University Hospital Ospedali Riuniti, University Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.forename: Lucia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mancinelli
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Angelini
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fortunati
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rappelli
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dessì-Fulgheri
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sarzani
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015992:Body Mass Index; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000209:etiology*; D008297:Male; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000150:complications*; D009765:Obesity; D050177:Overweight; D012307:Risk Factors; D013318:Stroke Volume