Relationship of Cardiovascular Risk Factors to Echocardiographic Left Ventricular Mass in Healthy Young Black and White Adult Men and Women

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to describe the distribution of echo left ventricular (LV) mass and its association with demographic and cardiovascular risk factors in a large race- and sex-balanced cohort of young adults. Recent epidemiological data have suggested that M-mode echocardiographically determined LV hypertrophy is an independent predictor of mortality and morbidity from coronary heart disease (CHD) in older adults. Echocardiographic LV mass has been associated in middle-aged and older adults with multiple factors including age, arterial blood pressure, body mass, and sex. However, there are few data describing the distribution of echo LV mass among black and white young adult men and women and relating LV mass to cardiovascular disease risk factors within race-sex subgroups. METHODS AND RESULTS: CARDIA (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults) is a multicenter study of young adults, including approximately equal proportions of black and white men and women aged 23 to 35 years at the time of echo examination (1990 through 1991). Two-dimensionally guided M-mode echocardiograms were attempted in 4243 participants with recordings deemed acceptable for calculation of LV mass, that is, of at least fair quality score, obtained in 3840 (90.5% of the 1990-1991 cohort). M-mode LV mass was calculated from the formula of Devereux and Reicheck, adapted for use with measurements made according to the American Society of Echocardiography Standards. LV mass was greater in men than in women and greater in blacks than in whites (P < .001) (mean +/- SD): black men, 176 +/- 42 g; white men, 169 +/- 40 g; black women, 135 +/- 38 g; and white women, 125 +/- 33 g. In all race-sex groups, LV mass was positively correlated (P < .0001) in bivariate analyses with body weight, subcapular skinfold thickness, height, and systolic blood pressure. In multivariate analyses, LV mass remained independently and positively related to body weight and systolic blood pressure and, when body weight was not considered, with subcapular skinfold thickness and height. In addition, the multivariate models allowed us to infer a direct relation between LV mass and both fatness and lean body mass. Weaker positive associations were noted of LV mass with pulse pressure in white participants and with physical activity in men. After adjustment for subscapular skinfold thickness, height, systolic and diastolic blood pressures, alcohol consumption, pulmonary function, smoking history, physical activity, total serum cholesterol, and family history of hypertension, LV mass remained higher in men than in women (P < .0001), in black men (167 +/- 43 g) than in white men (156 +/- 50 g, P < .0001), and in black women (142 +/- 49 g) than in white women (137 +/- 43 g, P < .002). CONCLUSIONS: In the healthy young adults of the CARDIA cohort, LV mass was highly correlated with body weight, subscapular skinfold thickness, height, and systolic blood pressure across race and sex subgroups. Furthermore, after adjustment for anthropometric, blood pressure, and other covariates, LV mass remained higher in men than in women and in blacks than in whites. Longitudinal studies are necessary to delineate the possible roles of these factors in the genesis of LV hypertrophy.