Systematic Brain Natriuretic Peptide Measurement for Cardiac Screening in Patients with Severe Obesity: The OLECOEUR...

Heart failure (HF) is difficult to diagnose in obese patients because of cardiovascular and pulmonary comorbidities associated with physical deconditioning, all of which lead to dyspnea.

The OLECOEUR study is a prospective screening for HF using systematic brain natriuretic peptide (BNP) measurement in ambulatory patients with obesity from a department of Nutrition (Paris, France). Clinical, biological, and echocardiographic data were extracted from electronic medical records.

We included 1,506 patients middle-aged (mean age: 47.2 ± 14.6 years old) with severe obesity (mean body mass index: 40.4 ± 6.6 kg/m2). Patients with BNP ≥35 pg/mL had left heart remodeling including thicker interventricular septum (10.4 ± 2.0 vs. 9.6 ± 1.8 mm; p = 0.0008), higher left ventricular mass (89.9 ± 24.3 vs. 77.2 ± 20.0 g/m2; p = 0.0009), and significant changes in both left and right atria consistent with a higher proportion of prior atrial fibrillation. Markers of right heart remodeling on echocardiography were also significantly higher (pulmonary artery systolic pressure: 33.3 ± 17.3 vs. 24.5 ± 6.3 mm Hg; p = 0.0002).

The OLECOEUR study shows left and right subclinical cardiac remodeling in obese patients screened for HF with systematic dosing of BNP with usual cut-off of 35 pg/mL.