Influence of obesity on cardiac mass and blood pressure in the elderly

Summary y is a physical condition, related to abnormalities of glucose and insulin metabolism; it plays a substantial role in development of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to establish the correlations among cardiac mass determined by echography according to the PENN Convention criteria (Devereux Index), blood pressure measured by ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM), and anthropometric indexes such as body mass index (BMI) and local adipose tissue distribution expressed as the waist to hip ratio (WHR). Two groups of subjects were selected, matched for age (67 ± 2.5 years): 10 obese subjects with BMI = 34.5 ± 2.8 and WHR = 1.02 ± 0.004; and 10 non-obese subjects with BMI = 26.8 ± 2.1 and WHR = 0.088 ± 0.003. Statistical analysis was carried out by the Mann-Whitney U-Test, and linear regression analysis. The statistical analysis revealed a higher mean blood pressure (MBP) in the nonobese group (138.5 ± 16.9 / 82.2 ± 5.09 mmHq) compared to the obese subjects (131 ± 15.3 / 84.29 ± 11.72 mmHg), the difference was not significant (p > 0.05). Nevertheless, a significant difference was found in the left ventricular mass (LVM) and the LVM index (LVMI) of the two groups (p < 0.005) as follows: LVM(norm) = 224.55 ± 50.59; LVM(ob) = 295.02 ± 43.54; LVMI(norm) = 127.56 ± 18.58; LVMI(ob) = 172.48 ± 15.44. These results represent an evidence showing that obesity and blood pressure are two independent risk factors in the determination of the ventricular cardiac mass.