Open AccessInfluence of Excess Fat on Cardiac Morphology and Function: Study in Uncomplicated Obesity
Author(s) -
Iacobellis Gianluca,
Ribaudo Maria Cristina,
Leto Gaetano,
Zappaterreno Alessandra,
Vecci Elio,
Mario Umberto,
Leonetti Frida
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
obesity research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1550-8528
pISSN - 1071-7323
DOI - 10.1038/oby.2002.104
Subject(s) - medicine , bioelectrical impedance analysis , body mass index , cardiology , obesity , dyslipidemia , diastole , blood pressure , endocrinology , diabetes mellitus , impaired glucose tolerance , systole , cardiac function curve , heart failure , insulin resistance
Objective: To evaluate whether or not “uncomplicated” obesity (without associated comorbidities) is really associated with cardiac abnormalities. Research Methods and Procedures: We evaluated cardiac parameters in obese subjects with long‐term obesity, normal glucose tolerance, normal blood pressure, and regular plasma lipids. We selected 75 obese patients [body mass index (BMI) >30 kg/m 2 ], who included 58 women and 17 men (mean age, 33.7 ± 11.9 years; BMI, 37.8 ± 5.5 kg/m 2 ) with a ≥10‐year history of excess fat, and 60 age‐matched normal‐weight controls, who included 47 women and 13 men (mean age, 32.7 ± 10.4 years; BMI, 23.1 ± 1.4 kg/m 2 ). Each subject underwent an oral glucose tolerance test to exclude impaired glucose tolerance or diabetes mellitus, bioelectrical impedance analysis to calculate fat mass and fat‐free mass, and echocardiography. Results: Obese patients presented diastolic function impairment, hyperkinetic systole, and greater aortic root and left atrium compared with normal subjects. No statistically significant differences between obese subjects and normal subjects were found in indexed left ventricular mass (LVM/body surface area, LVM/height 2.7 , and LVM/fat‐free mass kg ), and no changes in left ventricular geometry were observed. No statistically significant differences in cardiac parameters between extreme (BMI > 40 kg/m 2 ) and mild obesity (BMI < 35 kg/m 2 ) were observed. Discussion: In conclusion, our data showed that obesity, in the absence of glucose intolerance, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, seems to be associated only with an impairment of diastolic function and hyperkinetic systole, and not with left ventricular hypertrophy.