INFLUENCE OF OBESITY ON CARDIAC MASS AND BLOOD-PRESSURE IN THE ELDERLY

Obesity is a physical condition, related to abnormalities of glucose a nd insulin metabolism; it plays a substantial role in development of c ardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to establish the corr elations 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 indexe s 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 analys is was carried out by the Mann-Whitney U-Test, and linear regression a nalysis. The statistical analysis revealed a higher mean blood pressur e (MBP) in the nonobese group (138.5 +/- 16.9 / 82.2 +/- 5.09 mmHg) co mpared to the obese subjects (131 +/- 15.3 / 84.29 +/- 11.72 mmHg), th e difference was not significant (p > 0.05). Nevertheless, a significa nt 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) 127.55 +/- 18.58 ; LVMI(ob) = 172.48 +/- 15.44. These results represent an evidence sho wing that obesity and blood pressure are two independent risk factors in the determination of the ventricular cardiac mass.