Key result
Echocardiography and vascular ultrasound can accurately identify early obesity-induced abnormalities, such as left ventricular hypertrophy, subclinical dysfunction, and preclinical atherosclerosis.
Cardiovascular ultrasound serves as a primary modality for evaluating the complex structural and functional cardiovascular adaptations induced by obesity.
Supports early ultrasound detection of subclinical obesity effects; leaves open whether screening improves outcomes.
Obesity represents a worldwide increasing health problem. Obesity, through complex and not fully understood pathogenetic mechanisms, induces different structural and functional changes of left heart chambers, right heart chambers, and arteries. Ultrasound techniques are the first choice for a comprehensive assessment of the cardiovascular adaptation to obesity. This review summarizes the up-to-date literature on the topic, with particular focus on the main clinical studies, which range over different cardiovascular adaptations to obesity, namely left ventricular mass, diastolic function, right ventricle structure and function, arterial stiffness, and intima-media thickness. Also, the importance of epicardial fat and of the degree of obesity is described. Finally, the role of weight loss and bariatric surgery and the study of cardiovascular obesity-induced abnormalities in children and adolescent are discussed.
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Antonini‐Canterin et al. (2014) conducted a review in Obesity. Cardiovascular ultrasound was evaluated. Echocardiography and vascular ultrasound can accurately identify early obesity-induced abnormalities, such as left ventricular hypertrophy, subclinical dysfunction, and preclinical atherosclerosis.
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