Relations of stroke volume and cardiac output to body composition: the strong heart study

Although cardiac output (CO) plays the vital role of delivering nutrients to body tissues, few data are available concerning the relations of stroke volume (SV) and CO to body composition in large population samples.

Doppler and 2D echocardiography and bioelectric impedance in 2744 Strong Heart Study participants were used to calculate SV and CO and to relate them to fat-free body mass (FFM), adipose mass, and demographic variables. Both SV and CO were higher in men than women and in overweight than normal-weight individuals, but these differences were diminished or even reversed by normalization for FFM or body surface area. In both sexes, SV and CO were more strongly related to FFM than adipose mass, other body habitus measures, arterial pressure, diabetes, or age. In multivariate analyses using the average of Doppler and left ventricular SV to minimize measurement variability, FFM was the strongest correlate of SV and CO; other independent correlates were adipose mass, systolic pressure, diabetes, age, and use of digoxin and calcium channel and beta-blockers.

In a population-based sample, SV and CO are more strongly related to FFM than other variables; increased FFM may be the primary determinant of increased SV and CO in obesity.