Cutoff value for hypertrophic heart weight in the Japanese population.

Abstract

Cardiac hypertrophy is a clinical risk factor for cardiovascular death (CVD) frequently recorded in autopsy reports, but the diagnostic criteria for the condition have not been clearly-established for autopsy. This study aimed to estimate the cutoff value for hypertrophic heart weight that can efficiently assist the postmortem diagnosis of CVD. We analyzed accumulated autopsy data from 3534 individuals aged 0-101years. We found that heart weight increased linearly with a person's age until 20years, after which it remained stable. The mean heart weight in CVD cases was 473g in men and 379g in women. The mean heart weight in non-CVD cases was 385g in men and 320g in women. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis for CVD assessment revealed that the cutoff value of heart weight was 407g (odds ratio of 4.2) in men and 327g (2.6) in women, and that of heart weight/body height was 2.38g/cm (4.0) in men and 2.15g/cm (2.6) in women, respectively. Overall, heart weight was a more useful predictor of CVD in men than in women. In logistic regression analysis, the predictive power of heart weight for CVD was higher than that of body mass index in both sexes. Thus, the criteria for hypertrophic heart weight are practical and useful for autopsy recordings, and it can be helpful for postmortem diagnosis of CVD. Our report is the first to reveal the cutoff value for hypertrophic heart weight in the Japanese population.