Noninvasive visceral adiposity score provides ‘one-shot’ assessment of HF risk
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Data from a large U.S. survey show a noninvasive visceral adiposity index score, a metric for assessing obesity, can independently predict and serve as a novel marker of HF risk, researchers reported.
“Previous studies have shown that patients with HF, especially HF with preserved ejection fraction, exhibit higher visceral adipose tissue,” Xiaoping Ji, MD, PhD, professor and deputy director in the department of cardiology at Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, China, and colleagues wrote. “These studies usually used CT or MRI to evaluate visceral adipose tissue. The visceral adiposity index (VAI) was calculated using BMI, waist circumference, triglycerides and HDL cholesterol. Compared to CT or MRI, the calculation of VAI is easier and more economical and convenient. Previous studies have shown that visceral adipose tissue is associated with diabetes, hyperuricemia, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, atherosclerosis and vascular calcification. However, to our knowledge, the association between VAI and HF has not been studied.”
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In a cross-sectional study, Zhang and colleagues analyzed data from 28,764 adults who participated in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2009-2018; mean age, 50 years). Researchers calculated VAI using BMI, waist circumference, triglyceride level and HDL level, and assessed VAI as a continuous and categorical variable for its association with HF.
The findings were published in Clinical Cardiology.
Researchers found that adults with HF exhibited a higher VAI compared with those without HF (P < .001).
When VAI was analyzed as a continuous variable, each per-unit increase in VAI was associated with higher risk for HF (OR = 1.04; 95% CI, 1.02-1.05), with results persisting after adjustment for factors including sex, age, race, hypertension, diabetes status, smoking, alcohol consumption and kidney and liver disease (OR = 1.03; 95%, CI, 1-1.05).
When VAI was analyzed as a categorical variable, compared with the lowest VAI quartile, adults in the third quartile had the highest risk for HF (OR = 1.55; 95% CI, 1.24-1.94) after adjusting for comorbidities, age and sex. There were no interactions between VAI and specific subgroups.
“More simply stated, noninvasive scores of visceral adiposity permitted a simple noninvasive ‘one-shot’ assessment of HF risk,” the researchers wrote. “In view of the increasing prevalence and enormous health burden of HF, individuals with high VAI warrant greater attention to prevent HF. As such, its potential use as a novel marker of HF risk merits further investigation.”
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