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Usefulness of the myocardial performance index (MPI) for assessing ventricular function in obese pediatric patients
Ertürk Levent1, Damla Gökşen, Arif Ruhi Ozyürek
1Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Ege University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey.
Insights
Obesity significantly impacts cardiovascular risk in children. Myocardial performance index (MPI) revealed impaired left ventricular (LV) function in obese children, particularly those with hypertension.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Cardiology
- Cardiovascular Physiology
- Nutritional Pathology
Background:
- Obesity is a growing global health concern, linked to various clinical and sub-clinical disorders.
- Cardiovascular complications, including hypertension, are significant risks associated with pediatric obesity.
- Myocardial performance index (MPI) is a noninvasive Doppler echocardiography measure of left ventricular (LV) function.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate MPI in normotensive obese, hypertensive obese, and healthy pediatric groups.
- To investigate the correlation between MPI and LV mass, systolic, and diastolic functions in these groups.
- To explore the relationship between obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in children.
Main Methods:
- Transthoracic Doppler echocardiography was used to assess MPI.
- The study included 75 children: 25 healthy controls, 25 normotensive obese, and 25 hypertensive obese.
- Key parameters measured included MPI, LV mass, fractional shortening (FS), ejection fraction (EF), and mitral E/A ratio.
Main Results:
- Hypertensive obese children exhibited higher cholesterol levels and BMI compared to controls.
- MPI values were significantly elevated in obese groups, especially in hypertensive obese children (0.51+/-0.11).
- Significant differences were observed in MPI, LV mass, FS, EF, and mitral E/A ratio, particularly in the hypertensive obese group.
Conclusions:
- MPI is a sensitive indicator of cardiac function alterations in obese children.
- Hypertension exacerbates the negative impact of obesity on myocardial performance in pediatric populations.
- MPI may serve as a valuable tool for assessing cardiovascular risk in obese children.
Abstract:
Obesity is a prevalent pathological and nutritional disease relating to clinical and sub-clinical disorders. Furthermore, its complications exert a major impact on cardiovascular risk. Myocardial performance index (MPI) has been described as noninvasive Doppler measures of left ventricular (LV) function. The purpose of this study was to assess MPI using transthoracic Doppler echocardiography in normotensive obese and hypertensive obese pediatric patients and in a control group, and to investigate the relationship between MPI and LV mass, and LV systolic and diastolic functions. The study group consisted of 25 healthy cases (M/F: 13/12) as a control group (Group I), 25 normotensive-obese patients (M/F: 13/12) (Group II) and 25 hypertensive-obese patients (M/F: 14/11) (Group III). The mean ages were 12.1+/-1.8, 11.9+/-1.5 and 12.4+/-1.4 years, respectively. Cholesterol levels and body mass index (BMI) were higher in the hypertensive-obese group. The MPI values were 0.37+/-0.04, 0.43+/-0.08 and 0.51+/-0.11 in the three groups, respectively. MPI measurements, LV mass fractional shortening (FS), ejection fraction (EF) and mitral E/A ratio were found significantly different, especially in the hypertensive-obese group. These findings may be important to determine the relationship between obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in pediatric ages. MPI may be useful in determining the relationship between them.