Abstract 9521: Obesity Increases the Prevalence of Cardiovascular Target Organ Damage in Hypertension

Abstract

Background: Whether concomitant obesity in hypertension is associated with increased prevalence of vascular as well as cardiac target organ damage needs further clarification. Methods: Data from carotid ultrasound and echocardiography in 10800 hypertensive patients free of prevalent CV disease, participating in the Campania Salute Network were used. The population was grouped into body mass index (BMI) classes: normal BMI 20-24.9 kg/m 2 , overweight BMI 25-29.9 kg/m 2 and obese BMI>30 kg/m 2 . Vascular and cardiac target organ damage was defined as plaque in >1 of the common or internal carotid arteries and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), respectively. LVH was defined as LV mass/height 2.7 >46.7 g/m 2.7 in women and >49.2 g/m 2.7 in men, respectively. Results: A majority of the patients were either overweight or obese (Table 1). In spite of more use of combination therapy, the obese group had slightly higher blood pressure (BP) and included more patients with carotid plaques and LVH (Table 1). In multivariate logistic analyses, concomitant obesity was associated with a 21% (95% confidence interval [CI] 7-36%) increased prevalence of carotid plaques, a 3.7 times higher prevalence of LVH (95% CI 3.32-4.18) and a 2.4 times higher prevalence of combined vascular and cardiac target organ damage (95% CI 2.12-2.78, all p<0.01) independent of significant associations with gender, age, diabetes mellitus, clinic systolic BP and antihypertensive treatment. Conclusion: In hypertensive patients participating in the Campania Salute Network, concomitant obesity is associated with a highly increased prevalence of LVH, and a modest increased prevalence of carotid plaques.