title: Factors influencing left ventricular hypertrophy in children and adolescents with or without family history of premature myocardial infarction.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cardiovascular diseases are the highest ranking cause of mortality. The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases is increasing among people in developed and developing countries. Since left ventricular hypertrophy is one of the risk factors leading to extremely dangerous heart diseases and even sudden death at early ages, investigating its contributing factors can be beneficial. The purpose of this study was to determine factors contributing to left ventricular hypertrophy in students aged 7-18 years in Isfahan. Statistical population of this case-control study was the 7-18 year old students in Isfahan, who were studied in two groups of children with premature myocardial infarction in their parents and the control group.
  
  
  METHODS
  After determining the sample size of 138 people, a two-part questionnaire was designed and demographic characteristics and anthropometric measures were recorded in students' profiles. The obtained information was analyzed using SPSS15 software and logistic regression model and the results were reported at P < 0.05.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results showed that among the studied variables, gender, age, body mass index, and blood pressure were associated with the left ventricular hypertrophy.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Considering the results and previous studies in this field, it was observed that left ventricular hypertrophy exists at early ages, which is very dangerous and can lead to heart diseases at early ages. Factors such as being overweight, having high blood pressure, and being male cause left ventricular hypertrophy and lead to undiagnosable heart diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Skin Diseases and Leishmaniasis Research Center, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyyed Mohsen
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Hosseini
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Child Growth and Development Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Roya
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Kelishadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Child Growth and Development Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Noushin
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lotfi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, Faculty of Medicine and Child Growth and Development Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Sabri
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics and Epidemiology, Public Health faculty, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Samaneh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mansouri
keywords: Body mass index; left ventricular hypertrophy; mean blood pressure; waist to hip ratio