Gender differences in left ventricular systolic function in American Indians (from the Strong Heart Study).

Data from population-based studies indicate that men have a higher incidence and worse prognoses of congestive heart failure than women. Echocardiography was used to compare left ventricular (LV) myocardial and chamber contractility between 490 male and 861 female American Indian participants in the second Strong Heart Study examination. After adjusting for fat-free mass, baseline hypertension, diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, and alcohol consumption, LV ejection fractions were higher in women than men (66 +/- 8% vs 63 +/- 9%, p = 0.

Prevalence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in a population-based sample of American Indians aged 51 to 77 years (the Strong Heart Study).

Recognition of the frequency with which hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HC) occurs in the general population is critical to understanding its demographics and public health implications. However, few data are available for estimating HC prevalence in large populations of different age strata and ethnic or racial groups. The Strong Heart Study is a prospective, population-based epidemiologic survey of cardiovascular disease in residents of 13 geographically diverse American Indian communities.

Differences in left ventricular structure between black and white hypertensive adults: the Hypertension Genetic Epidemiology Network study.

The degree to which ethnic differences in left ventricular structure among hypertensive adults are independent of clinical and hemodynamic factors remains uncertain. We assessed whether left ventricular mass and geometry differ between black and white hypertensives after accounting for differences in such factors. Our study group comprised 1060 black and 580 white hypertensive participants free of valvular or coronary disease in a population-based cohort.

Associations of insulin levels with left ventricular structure and function in American Indians: the strong heart study.

We evaluated the association of insulin and echocardiographic left ventricular (LV) measurements in 1,388 (45% men) nondiabetic American Indian participants in the Strong Heart Study (SHS). Significant (all P < 0.05) relations were found in men and women between log(10) fasting insulin and LV mass (r = 0.