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The impact of morbid obesity on cardiac structure and function in pregnancy

Background: The increasing prevalence of obesity worldwide is a major threat to global health. Structural and functional changes in the heart are well documented for obesity as well as for pregnancy, but there is limited literature on the impact of obesity on cardiac function in pregnancy. We hypoth...

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Main Author: Fernandes, Nicole Lucy
Other Authors: Dyer, Robert A
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine 2019
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access_status_str Open Access
author Fernandes, Nicole Lucy
author2 Dyer, Robert A
author_browse Dyer, Robert A
Fernandes, Nicole Lucy
author_facet Dyer, Robert A
Fernandes, Nicole Lucy
author_sort Fernandes, Nicole Lucy
collection Thesis
description Background: The increasing prevalence of obesity worldwide is a major threat to global health. Structural and functional changes in the heart are well documented for obesity as well as for pregnancy, but there is limited literature on the impact of obesity on cardiac function in pregnancy. We hypothesized that cardiac maladaptation to pregnancy occurs more frequently in otherwise healthy morbidly obese pregnant women than in pregnant women of normal body mass index (BMI). Methods: This prospective cohort study was performed in two referral maternity units in Cape Town, South Africa, over a 3-month period. Forty morbidly obese pregnant women (BMI ≥40 kg.m⁻²) (Group O) were compared to 40 pregnant women of BMI 30 kg.m⁻² (Group N). Cardiac structure and function were assessed by transthoracic echocardiography, according to the recommendations of the British Society of Echocardiography. Results: Acceptable echocardiographic images were obtained in all obese women. Statistical significance was defined as P< .005 after applying the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Mean [SD] mean arterial pressure was higher in Group O (91 [8.42] vs 84 [9.49] mmHg, P<0.001). There were no between-group differences in heart rate, cardiac output, or cardiac index (84 [12] vs 79 [13] beats.min⁻¹, P=0.103; 5447 [1048] vs 4740 [1183] mL.min⁻¹, P=0.006; 2551 [474] vs 2729 [623] mL.min⁻¹.m⁻², P=0.156, respectively). Stroke volume index was lower, and left ventricular mass higher in Group O (30.14 [4.51] vs 34.25 [7.00] mL.m⁻², P=0.003; 152 [24] vs 115 [29] g, P<0.001). Isovolumetric relaxation time was significantly prolonged in Group O (73 [15] vs 61 [15] milliseconds, P<0.001). The septal tissue Doppler index E' sept was lower in Group O (9.08 [1.69] vs 11.28 [3.18], P<0.001). There were no between- group differences in E' average (10.7 [2.3] vs 12.0 [2.7], P=0.018), or E/E' average (7.85 [1.77] vs 7.27 [1.68]). Conclusion: Obese pregnant women had a similar cardiac output and cardiac index to those with normal BMI. Their increased left ventricular mass and lower stroke volume index could indicate a limited adaptive reserve. Obese women had minor decreases in septal left ventricular tissue Doppler velocity, but the E/E' average values did not suggest clinically significant diastolic dysfunction.
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language eng
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license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2019
publishDateRange 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine
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spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/29661 The impact of morbid obesity on cardiac structure and function in pregnancy Fernandes, Nicole Lucy Dyer, Robert A Anaesthesiology Background: The increasing prevalence of obesity worldwide is a major threat to global health. Structural and functional changes in the heart are well documented for obesity as well as for pregnancy, but there is limited literature on the impact of obesity on cardiac function in pregnancy. We hypothesized that cardiac maladaptation to pregnancy occurs more frequently in otherwise healthy morbidly obese pregnant women than in pregnant women of normal body mass index (BMI). Methods: This prospective cohort study was performed in two referral maternity units in Cape Town, South Africa, over a 3-month period. Forty morbidly obese pregnant women (BMI ≥40 kg.m⁻²) (Group O) were compared to 40 pregnant women of BMI 30 kg.m⁻² (Group N). Cardiac structure and function were assessed by transthoracic echocardiography, according to the recommendations of the British Society of Echocardiography. Results: Acceptable echocardiographic images were obtained in all obese women. Statistical significance was defined as P< .005 after applying the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Mean [SD] mean arterial pressure was higher in Group O (91 [8.42] vs 84 [9.49] mmHg, P<0.001). There were no between-group differences in heart rate, cardiac output, or cardiac index (84 [12] vs 79 [13] beats.min⁻¹, P=0.103; 5447 [1048] vs 4740 [1183] mL.min⁻¹, P=0.006; 2551 [474] vs 2729 [623] mL.min⁻¹.m⁻², P=0.156, respectively). Stroke volume index was lower, and left ventricular mass higher in Group O (30.14 [4.51] vs 34.25 [7.00] mL.m⁻², P=0.003; 152 [24] vs 115 [29] g, P<0.001). Isovolumetric relaxation time was significantly prolonged in Group O (73 [15] vs 61 [15] milliseconds, P<0.001). The septal tissue Doppler index E' sept was lower in Group O (9.08 [1.69] vs 11.28 [3.18], P<0.001). There were no between- group differences in E' average (10.7 [2.3] vs 12.0 [2.7], P=0.018), or E/E' average (7.85 [1.77] vs 7.27 [1.68]). Conclusion: Obese pregnant women had a similar cardiac output and cardiac index to those with normal BMI. Their increased left ventricular mass and lower stroke volume index could indicate a limited adaptive reserve. Obese women had minor decreases in septal left ventricular tissue Doppler velocity, but the E/E' average values did not suggest clinically significant diastolic dysfunction. 2019-02-19T12:56:48Z 2019-02-19T12:56:48Z 2018 2019-02-19T11:56:21Z Master Thesis Masters MMed http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29661 eng application/pdf Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Anaesthesiology
Fernandes, Nicole Lucy
The impact of morbid obesity on cardiac structure and function in pregnancy
thesis_degree_str Master's
title The impact of morbid obesity on cardiac structure and function in pregnancy
title_full The impact of morbid obesity on cardiac structure and function in pregnancy
title_fullStr The impact of morbid obesity on cardiac structure and function in pregnancy
title_full_unstemmed The impact of morbid obesity on cardiac structure and function in pregnancy
title_short The impact of morbid obesity on cardiac structure and function in pregnancy
title_sort impact of morbid obesity on cardiac structure and function in pregnancy
topic Anaesthesiology
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29661
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