The Impact of Obesity on the Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction Using Echocardiography

Global left ventricle chamber function in obese patients is assessed, most commonly, by means of the ejection fraction. The preferred noninvasive modality for evaluating regional wall motion and overall ventricular performance is usually color-flow Doppler transthoracic echocardiography. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relationship of left ventricular ejection fraction to body mass index (BMI) measure of obesity in obese patients by using echocardiography. A prospective cohort study was conducted in the period of July 2012 to September 2014 in the ultrasound department of the Sudan Heart Center in Khartoum-Sudan, among a group of 250 obese participants of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) (67.2% males and 32.8% females) and their ages range from 22 to 86 years; mean age of 41 ± 1.2 years. Echocardiography studies were performed using MyLab 50 XVision-Esaote echocardiography machine equipped with 2.5 MHz phased array probe. Standard Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the results. The mean BMI was 28.6 ± 5.4 kg/m2. Significant relationship is found between left ventricle ejection fraction and BMI (P < 0.001). BMI is a useful statistical tool to track the body size trends in a multicentric population in Sudan. Left ventricular ejection fraction allows ventricular function to be assessed without the need for further body size adjustment.