title: Prognostic value of normal stress echocardiography in obese patients.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chest pain is a common problem in obese patients. Because of the body habitus, the results of noninvasive evaluation for CAD may be limited in this group.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the records of 1446 consecutive patients who had undergone clinically indicated stress echocardiography (SE). We compared major adverse cardiac events (MACE; myocardial infarction, cardiac intervention, cardiac death, subsequent hospitalization for cardiac events, and emergency department visits) at 1 year in normal weight, overweight, and obese subjects with normal SE.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Excluding patients with an abnormal and indeterminate SE and those who were lost to follow-up, a retrospective analysis of 704 patients was performed. There were 366 obese patients (BMI ≥ 30), 196 overweight patients (BMI 25-29.9), and 142 patients with normal BMI (18.5-24.9). There was no MACE in the groups at 1-year follow-up after a normal SE.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In obese patients including those with multiple risk factors and symptoms concerning for cardiac ischemia, stress echocardiography is an effective and reliable noninvasive tool for identifying those with a low 1-year risk of cardiac events.
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, 1120 15th Street, BBR 6518, Augusta, GA 30912-3105, USA.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, 1120 15th Street, BBR 6518, Augusta, GA 30912-3105, USA.
authors.forename: Siva
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Krothapalli
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, 1120 15th Street, BBR 6518, Augusta, GA 30912-3105, USA.
authors.forename: Jose
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cuellar
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, 1120 15th Street, BBR 6518, Augusta, GA 30912-3105, USA.
authors.forename: Somsupha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanjanauthai
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, 1120 15th Street, BBR 6518, Augusta, GA 30912-3105, USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Heeke
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, 1120 15th Street, BBR 6518, Augusta, GA 30912-3105, USA.
authors.forename: Pallavi S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Gomadam
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, 1120 15th Street, BBR 6518, Augusta, GA 30912-3105, USA.
authors.forename: Avirup
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Guha
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, 1120 15th Street, BBR 6518, Augusta, GA 30912-3105, USA.
authors.forename: Vernon A
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, 1120 15th Street, BBR 6518, Augusta, GA 30912-3105, USA.
authors.forename: Sheldon E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Litwin
authors.affiliation: Division of Cardiology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, 1120 15th Street, BBR 6518, Augusta, GA 30912-3105, USA.
authors.forename: Gyanendra K
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Sharma
mesh_terms: D002637:Chest Pain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D003324:Coronary Artery Disease / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D025401:Echocardiography, Stress; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D011379:Prognosis; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed