The impact of body mass index on right ventricular systolic functions in normal and mildly obese healthy patients: a velocity vector imaging study.

Background: Increasing prevalence of obesity is a significant problem in Western countries. Obesity has many effects on cardiovascular structure, function, and hemodynamics. Our aim was to compare the impact of body mass index (BMI) on right ventricular (RV) functions among healthy subjects with conventional echocardiography, tissue Doppler imaging (TDI), and velocity vector imaging (VVI).
Methods: Eighty-one healthy subjects divided into three group according to their BMI. All subjects were evaluated by conventional echocardiography, TDI, and VVI. A full polysomnogram were performed in subjects with BMI ≥ 30 km/m(2).
Results: RV end-diastolic and end-systolic diameters of patients in these three groups were similar (P > 0.05). There were no differences between each group in RV outflow tract fractional shortening (P = 0.52) and tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion (P = 0.94). No correlation observed between BMI and RV systolic parameters obtained with TDI. Longitudinal peak systolic strain and SRs were similar in all groups through each segment (P > 0.05).
Conclusion: The results of our study show no changes in the RV functions in obese and overweight who were otherwise healthy subjects. We also revealed a significant correlation between BMI and left ventricular diameters and wall thickness but no relation with RV diameters or functions.
(© 2011, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)