Enhanced parathyroid hormone levels are associated with left ventricle hypertrophy in very elderly men and women.
Serum parathyroid hormone (PTH) has been found to be associated with cardiovascular mortality in the elderly, but little is known about the mechanisms underlying this association. This study investigated the association between PTH and structural and functional changes of the heart and arterial wall in a cohort of very elderly individuals. Healthy individuals aged 80 years or more (n = 90) underwent evaluation of serum PTH, cardiac morphology and function by Doppler echocardiography, endothelium dependent and independent vasodilatation by brachial reactivity, carotid stiffness and intima-media thickness by ultrasound, and coronary calcification by computed tomography. Participants with PTH levels above the median 5.8 pmol/L had higher left ventricular mass index (P = .02), relative wall thickness (P = .02), left atrial volume index (P = .03), and shorter deceleration time of E mitral wave (P = .04). Serum PTH levels (odds ratio, 1.027; P = .032) and systolic blood pressure (odds ratio, 1.032; P = .008) were independently associated with left ventricular hypertrophy. No difference was found between PTH groups in flow- or nitrate-mediated brachial artery dilatation, coronary artery calcification, intima-media thickness, or arterial stiffness. Elevation of serum PTH in the very elderly is associated with concentric left ventricular hypertrophy, but no association with arterial wall structure or function was found in this study.
Cardiology Department, State University of Campinas Medicine School (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil; Laboratory of Genetics and Molecular Cardiology, Heart Institute (InCor), University of Sao Paulo Medical School (FMUSP), Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Alexandre A S
AA
Soares
Cardiology Department, State University of Campinas Medicine School (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Wladimir M
WM
Freitas
Cardiology Department, State University of Campinas Medicine School (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Andre V T
AV
Japiassú
Cardiology Department, State University of Campinas Medicine School (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Luiz A
LA
Quaglia
Cardiology Department, State University of Campinas Medicine School (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Simone N
SN
Santos
Laboratory of Genetics and Molecular Cardiology, Heart Institute (InCor), University of Sao Paulo Medical School (FMUSP), Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Alexandre C
AC
Pereira
Cardiology Department, State University of Campinas Medicine School (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil.
Wilson
W
Nadruz Junior
Cardiology Department, State University of Campinas Medicine School (UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil. Electronic address: andreisposito@gmail.com.
Andrei C
AC
Sposito
D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015150:Echocardiography, Doppler; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006961:Hyperparathyroidism / Q000150:complications*; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D008297:Male; D013599:Systole
Aging; arteriosclerosis; atherosclerosis; diastolic; heart failure