Life-Course Cumulative Burden of Body Mass Index and Blood Pressure on Progression of Left Ventricular Mass and Geometry in Midlife: The Bogalusa Heart Study.

RATIONALE

Data are limited regarding the influence of life-course cumulative burden of increased body mass index (BMI) and elevated blood pressure (BP) on the progression of left ventricular (LV) geometric remodeling in midlife.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the dynamic changes in LV mass and LV geometry over 6.4 years during midlife and to examine whether the adverse progression of LV geometric remodeling is influenced by the cumulative burden of BMI and BP from childhood to adulthood.

METHODS AND RESULTS

The study consisted of 877 adults (604 whites and 273 blacks; 355 males; mean age=41.4 years at follow-up) who had 5 to 15 examinations of BMI and BP from childhood and 2 examinations of LV dimensions at baseline and follow-up 6.4 years apart during adulthood. The area under the curve (AUC) was calculated as a measure of long-term burden (total AUC) and trends (incremental AUC) of BMI and systolic BP (SBP). After adjusting for age, race, sex, smoking, alcohol drinking, and baseline LV mass index, the annual increase rate of LV mass index was associated with all BMI measures (β=0.16-0.36, <0.05 for all), adult SBP (β=0.07, =0.04), and total AUC of SBP (β=0.09, =0.01) but not with childhood and incremental AUC values of SBP. All BMI and SBP measures (except childhood SBP) were significantly associated with increased risk of incident LV hypertrophy, with odds ratios of BMI (odds ratio=1.85-2.74, <0.05 for all) being significantly greater than those of SBP (odds ratio=1.09-1.34, <0.05 for all except childhood SBP). In addition, all BMI measures were significantly and positively associated with incident eccentric and concentric LV hypertrophy.

CONCLUSIONS

Life-course cumulative burden of BMI and BP is associated with the development of LV hypertrophy in midlife, with BMI showing stronger associations than BP. Visual Overview: An online visual overview is available for this article.