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Prognostic value of normal stress echocardiography in obese patients

Michele Murphy1, Siva Krothapalli1, Jose Cuellar1

  • 1Division of Cardiology, Medical College of Georgia, Georgia Regents University, 1120 15th Street, BBR 6518, Augusta, GA 30912-3105, USA.

Journal of Obesity
|September 27, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Obese patients with chest pain can safely undergo stress echocardiography. A normal stress echocardiogram effectively identifies obese individuals at low risk for major adverse cardiac events within one year.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Medical Imaging
  • Obesity Medicine

Background:

  • Chest pain is a frequent complaint among obese individuals.
  • Obesity can limit the accuracy of noninvasive cardiac diagnostic tests.
  • Evaluating coronary artery disease (CAD) in obese patients presents unique challenges.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the utility of stress echocardiography (SE) in obese patients with chest pain.
  • To determine the 1-year risk of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) following a normal SE in different BMI categories.
  • To establish SE as a reliable noninvasive tool for risk stratification in obese populations.

Main Methods:

  • A retrospective analysis of 704 patients who underwent clinically indicated SE.
  • Patients were categorized into normal weight, overweight, and obese groups based on BMI.
  • Major adverse cardiac events (MACE) were tracked for one year post-SE.

Main Results:

  • No MACE were observed within one year in patients with a normal SE, irrespective of BMI.
  • The study included 366 obese, 196 overweight, and 142 normal weight individuals.
  • Exclusion criteria included abnormal/indeterminate SE and loss to follow-up.

Conclusions:

  • Stress echocardiography is a reliable noninvasive method for assessing cardiac risk in obese patients.
  • A normal SE indicates a low 1-year risk of cardiac events, even in obese individuals with cardiac risk factors.
  • SE aids in identifying obese patients who do not require immediate cardiac intervention.
Abstract

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