Visceral obesity assessed by computed tomography predicts cardiovascular events in chronic kidney disease patients

Author(s)

Kamimura, M. A. ^[1] ; Carrero, J. J. ^[2] ; Canziani, M. E. F. ^[3] ; Watanabe, R. ^[4] ; Lemos, M. M. ^[5] ; Cuppari, L. ^[6]

Affiliation

^[1] Univ Fed Sao Paulo. Div Nephrol

^[2] Karolinska Inst. Div Renal Med & Baxter Novum

^[3] Univ Fed Sao Paulo. Div Nephrol

^[4] Univ Fed Sao Paulo. Div Nephrol

^[5] Univ Fed Sao Paulo. Div Nephrol

^[6] Univ Fed Sao Paulo. Div Nephrol

• Document type: Journal article
• Source: NUTRITION METABOLISM AND CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES; v. 23, n. 9, p. 891-897, SEP 2013.
• Web of Science Citations: 6

Abstract

Background and Aim: Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although there is emerging evidence that excess visceral fat is associated with a cluster of cardiometabolic abnormalities in these patients, the impact of visceral obesity evaluated by a gold-standard method on future outcomes has not been studied. We aimed to investigate whether visceral obesity assessed by computed tomography was able to predict cardiovascular events in CKD patients. Methods and Results: We studied 113 nondialyzed CKD patients {[}60% men; 31% diabetics; age 55.3 +/- 11.3 years; body mass index (BMI) 27.2 +/- 5.3 kg/m(2); estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) 33.7 +/- 13.6 ml/min/1.73 m(2)]. Visceral and subcutaneous abdominal fat were assessed by computed tomography at L4-L5. Visceral to subcutaneous fat ratio > 0.55 (highest tertile cut-off) was defined as visceral obesity. Cardiovascular events including acute myocardial infarction, angina, arrhythmia, uncontrolled blood pressure, stroke and cardiac failure were recorded during 24 months. Cardiovascular events were 3-fold higher in patients with visceral obesity than in those without visceral obesity. The KaplaneMeier analysis indicated that patients with visceral obesity had shorter cardiovascular event-free time than those without visceral obesity (P = 0.021). In the univariate Cox analysis, visceral obesity was associated with higher risk of cardiovascular events (hazard ratio = 3.4; 95% confidence interval = 1.1-10.5; P = 0.03). The prognostic power of visceral obesity for cardiovascular events remained significant after adjustments for sex, age, diabetes, previous cardiovascular disease, smoking, sedentary lifestyle, BMI, GFR, hypertension, dyslipidemia and inflammation. Conclusion: Visceral obesity assessed by computed tomography was a predictor of cardiovascular events in CKD patients. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. (AU)

• FAPESP's process: 05/02442-4 - Relationship between body fat and inflammatory markers and adipocytokines in nondialyzed chronic kidney disease patients
• Grantee: Lilian Cuppari
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• FAPESP's process: 07/00495-9 - Body fat and its relationship with inflammatory markers and adipokines in non-dialysis stage chronic kidney disease patients
• Grantee: Maria Ayako Kamimura
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral