Cardiovascular Changes in Obese and Overweight Patients
Abstract
Premises. Obesity and metabolic syndrome represent diagnoses found with an increasing frequency in the 21 st century,entailing high rates of morbidity and mortality in the general population.
Aim. In this study we propose to identify the predictive factors of cardiovascular disease in obese and overweight patients, by widely accessible laboratory examinations.
Material and methods. 97 patients, 71 females (73.2%) and 26 males (26.8%) were included in this study. For the studied patients we noted: sex, age, personal history of diseases, BMI, waist circumference, arterial tension value, glycaemia, HDL-cholesterol, serum triglycerides, total cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, used drugs, smoking habit, left ventricle mass, electrical modifications, intima-media thickness. The patient population was divided into 3 body mass index (BMI) classes: normal BMI, 18.5 to 24.9 kg/m²; overweight, BMI 25.0 to 29.9 kg/m²; and obese, BMI > or =30.0 kg/m².
Results. The obese patients presented significantly more frequent (p<0.001) hypertension and hypertriglyceridemia. The left ventricle mass was increased in both obese and overweight groups, with significantly statistical difference (p<0.001) between normal weight vs overweight vs obese patients and also between overweight vs obese patients. Statistically significant differences (p<0.05) were recorded regarding RR and QT intervals, QTc, T wave. Analysing the relation between intima-media thickness and weight status, we observed significantly statistical difference (p<0.001) between normal weight vs overweight patients and normal weight vs obese patients.
Conclusions. Obesity is linked to increased left ventricular mass, which is known like an important risk factor in cardiovascular disease. Electrical changes, especially prolongation of the corrected QT interval (QTc) and T wave’s abnormalities, have been described in obese and with metabolic syndrome subjects. A well-known marker of subclinical atherosclerosis is intima-media thickness. Keywords: obesity, cardiovascular disease, left ventricular hypertrophy, ECG, intima-media thickness, subclinical atherosclerosis.