Metabolic Syndrome Less Strongly Associated With Target Organ Damage Than Syndrome Components in a Healthy, Working Population

The authors investigated the associations between target organ damage and individual components of the metabolic syndrome (MS) compared with the MS itself. Carotid intima‐media thickness (IMT), carotid plaque, and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were assessed by ultrasonography in 356 participants who were free of overt cardiovascular disease. Participants with the MS (n=33) had higher LVMI and carotid IMT than those without the MS (n=323), but the percentage of patients who had carotid plaque was similar. Individually, each component of the MS was significantly associated with the 3 measures of target organ damage. In bivariate and multivariate analyses, the association of clinic systolic blood pressure to both LVMI and carotid IMT and the negative association of high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol with carotid plaque were stronger than and independent of the MS. The data suggest that physicians should evaluate blood pressure and high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol as well as other cardiovascular risk factors without regard to whether a patient meets the criteria for the MS.