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Wrist circumference may indicate CV risk in children with obesity
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The measurement of wrist circumference in children and adolescents with obesity can help estimate CV risk, according to a study published in The American Journal of Cardiology.
Simona Zampetti, PhD, of the department of experimental medicine at Sapienza University in Rome, and colleagues analyzed data from 106 children (mean age, 10 years; 55 boys) with overweight or obesity.
Children underwent a complete physical examination, including measurements such as wrist circumference, height, weight, systolic and diastolic BP, BMI and degree of obesity. Blood samples were also taken to estimate insulin, glucose, total cholesterol, triglycerides and lipoprotein cholesterol. Echocardiography was used to assess left ventricular dimension at end diastole, interventricular septal thickness at end diastole, LV posterior wall thickness at end diastole, LV posterior wall thickness at end diastole, LV dimension at end diastole, interventricular septal thickness at end systole and epicardial adipose tissue.
Wrist circumference was associated with all six parameters of LV dimensions (P < .0001) and epicardial adipose tissue (P = .04). The strongest was seen between wrist circumference with LV dimension at end systole (r = 0.68; P < .0001) and with LV dimension at end diastole (r = 0.73; P < .0001).
Wrist circumference was linked to LV mass, epicardial adipose tissue and all parameters of LV dimensions in a multivariate regression analysis (P .002 for all).
After adjusting for sex, age and Tanner stage, wrist circumference was significantly associated with LV hypertrophy (OR = 1.39; 95% CI, 1.01-1.92).
“We suggest that wrist circumference could be an ideal marker for insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk in overweight/obese children and adolescents,” Zampetti and colleagues wrote. “Wrist circumference measurement, being easy and effortless, could be advantageous in everyday clinical practice. Moreover, wrist circumference measurement has an excellent intraoperator and interoperator reliability.” – by Darlene Dobkowski
Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.
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