This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hense, H. W. Articles by Howard, B. V. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hense, H. W. Articles by Howard, B. V.

(Circulation. 1999;100:e145.)
© 1999 American Heart Association, Inc.

Circulation Electronic Pages

Relations of Left Ventricular Mass to Fat-Free and Adipose Body Mass

Hans W. Hense, MD

Professor Bereich Klinische Epidemiologie, Institut für Epidemiologie und Sozialmedizin, University of Münster, Germany

Heribert Schunkert, MD, Professor

Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II, University of Regensburg, Germany

	Introduction

 
To the Editor:

We read with great interest the recent article by Bella et al,¹ which reported as its principal finding that fat-free mass (FFM) was the strongest correlate of left ventricular mass (LVM) in a large cross-sectional study of Native Americans (the Strong Heart Study). Their article agrees in many aspects with our report of a large Caucasian adult population survey (the MONICA Augsburg study), which was published earlier in 1998.² Body impedance analysis was used in both studies to determine the FFM. Interestingly, despite the use of different equipment for body impedance analysis, different equations, and the major differences in the anthropometric characteristics of the 2 populations, the results of these 2 investigations are impressively consistent. Our study supports the principal finding of Bella et al¹ ; we could demonstrate that substantial reductions in the association of adiposity with ventricle mass were obtained by indexing LVM to FFM. This reduction was significantly stronger than that observed by indexing for height, various exponentials of height, or body surface. However, a remarkable difference existed between the 2 studies.

The sex difference in heart mass, which is traditionally reported as higher in adult men than women, was almost completely eliminated when LVM was indexed to FFM in the MONICA Augsburg study (men, 3.4 g/kg; women, 3.3 g/kg; P=0.06).² Bella et al¹ present sex-specific criteria for LV hypertrophy based on the LVM/FFM ratio that were even lower for men (3.6 g/kg) than for women (4.4 g/kg [according to Table 6] or . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Jonathan N. Bella, MD; Mary J. Roman, MD; Thomas K. Welty, MD, MPH; Richard R. Fabsitz, MA; Richard B. Devereux, MD; Michael J. O’Grady, BA; Elisa T. Lee, PhD; Barbarba V. Howard, PhD

Division of Cardiology, The New York Presbyterian Hospital, New York, NY

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. A. Whalley, R. N. Doughty, G. D. Gamble, H. C. Oxenham, H. J. Walsh, I. R. Reid, and J. C. Baldi Association of fat-free mass and training status with left ventricular size and mass in endurance-trained athletes J. Am. Coll. Cardiol., August 18, 2004; 44(4): 892 - 896. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]