Correlation between left ventricular mass and visceral fat thickness in obese women

This study was aimed to measure left ventricular mass, which partly determines the function of the left ventricle, in obese women.

The total number of study subjects was 90, which consisted of 45 obese women (BMI >or= 25 Kg/m2) and 45 non-obese women (BMI < 25 Kg/m2) as control group. They were evaluated by M mode echocardiography and abdominal CT to measure visceral fat, blood pressure, insulin resistance and waist circumference. Correlation was assessed for both groups.

There were significant differences in the left ventricular mass of the obese and non-obese group (P= 0.000), systolic blood pressure (P = 0.000), diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.006), waist circumference (P = 0.000), visceral fat (P = 0.000), and HOMA-IR (P = 0.000). With bivariant analysis, it is concluded that there are significant correlations between left ventricular mass and visceral fat (r = 0.67, P = 0.000); between BMI and left ventricular mass (r = 0.67, P = 0.000); between waist circumference and left ventricular mass (r = 0.72, P = 0.000); and also between HOMA-IR and left ventricular mass (r = 0.57, P = 0.000).

There are significant correlations between increased left ventricular mass and visceral fat, BMI, waist circumference and HOMA-IR among Indonesian women. So far, this study has shown a correlation between obesity and high cardiovascular risk.