Impact of Obesity on Persistent Left Ventricular Hypertrophy After Aortic Valve Replacement for Aortic Stenosis

Normalization of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy is expected after successful aortic valve replacement (AVR) in patients with aortic valve stenosis (AS), but is not always observed. We tested the impact of body mass index (BMI) ≥30 kg/m² on persistent post-AVR LV hypertrophy. In the present subanalysis of Simvastatin Ezetimibe in Aortic Stenosis study, clinical and echocardiographic data of 399 patients with severe AS who underwent surgical AVR were analyzed. All patients had a standardized pre- and post-AVR echocardiogram. Patients were grouped by BMI categories into BMI <25 kg/m², BMI 25 to 29.9 kg/m², and BMI ≥30 kg/m². LV hypertrophy was defined as LV mass/height^2.7 >49.2 g/m^2.7 in men and >46.7 g/m^2.7 in women. Predictors of persistent LV hypertrophy after AVR were identified in logistic regression analysis. After a median follow-up of 196 days after AVR, LV hypertrophy was more prevalent in patients with BMI ≥30 kg/m² compared with those with BMI 25 to 29.9 kg/m² and those patients with BMI <25 kg/m² (71% vs 47% and 37%, p <0.01). BMI ≥30 kg/m² patients also remained with lower LV midwall shortening post-AVR compared with patients with normal weight (p <0.01), independent of patient prosthesis mismatch. In multivariable logistic regression analysis, the presence of BMI ≥30 kg/m² before AVR was associated with an almost fourfold higher prevalence of post-AVR LV hypertrophy independent of significant associations with higher systolic blood pressure and lower LV midwall shortening preoperatively (odds ratio 3.75 [95% confidence interval 2.04 to 6.91], p <0.001). In conclusion, the presence of BMI ≥30 kg/m² before AVR in patients with severe AS was strongly and independently associated with persistent post-AVR LV hypertrophy.