Heart Enlargement Seen
in Healthy But Obese Women

Young women who are obese but otherwise healthy show signs of heart remodeling and impaired contraction and relaxation of the heart.

These abnormalities "may have important implications" in explaining cardiac dysfunction associated with obesity, say Dr. Linda R. Peterson and associates at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

Peterson's group used ultrasound to study the hearts of 51 women ages 21 to 37 years old, who had normal blood pressure. Twenty subjects were obese, as indicated by body mass index of 30 or higher.

The mass of the left side of the heart averaged 128 g in the non-obese women and 161 g in the obese subjects, the report in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Other dimensions of the main left vessel of the heart were also significantly higher in obese women, and these changes have been associated with a poor outlook for people with high blood pressure.

In further analyzes, BMI was linked to abnormal contraction and relaxation of the heart, the report indicates.

Other studies will be needed to assess the effect of male gender and race on obesity-associated alterations in cardiac structure and function, Peterson's group notes.

SOURCE: Journal of the American College of Cardiology, April 21, 2004.

Reference Source 89

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