Left ventricular mass: correlation with fatness, hemodynamics and renal morphology

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Human Physiology
• Body Composition Analysis

Background:

• Left ventricular mass (LVM) is influenced by body composition, hemodynamics, and kidney function.
• Fat-free mass shows a stronger correlation with LVM than other fatness descriptors.
• The relationship between LVM and comprehensive measures of fatness, hemodynamics, and renal characteristics requires further investigation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between comprehensive descriptors of fatness, central hemodynamics, and renal characteristics with left ventricular mass (LVM).
• To determine the relative contributions of different body composition measures (e.g., intraabdominal fat, fat-free mass) to LVM.
• To explore the relationship between kidney morphology and LVM in healthy individuals.

Main Methods:

• Evaluated 119 healthy non-obese subjects (mean age 50 years).
• Assessed central hemodynamics using Pulse Wave Analysis.
• Measured left ventricular mass via echocardiography and evaluated fatness using anthropometry, bioimpedance, and ultrasound.

Main Results:

• Left ventricular mass index (LVMI) correlated with central and peripheral blood pressure but not wave reflection.
• Both fat-free mass and intraabdominal fat showed similar correlations with LVMI.
• Kidney morphological characteristics, indexed to body surface area, were inversely and independently associated with LVMI.

Conclusions:

• Intraabdominal fat is a significant correlate of left ventricular mass (LVM).
• Wave reflection descriptors are not associated with LVM.
• The inverse relationship between kidney morphology and LVMI suggests a potentially biologically plausible phenomenon.