Hypertriglyceridemic waist and 7.5-year prospective risk of cardiovascular disease in asymptomatic middle-aged men.

Background: Few studies suggest that the combined increase in plasma triglycerides (TG) and in waist circumference (WC), termed 'hypertriglyceridemic waist' (HTGW), is an interesting marker of risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Objective: Using cutoffs used for defining HTGW, we examined the prospective association of HTGW with CVD risk in a French cohort of men.

Design: Men were participants in the SU.VI.MAX study, an intervention trial testing the impact of an antioxidant supplementation on chronic diseases. Data were collected in 1994-1996 in 3430 men followed up for 7.5 years. Cutoffs used for defining HTGW were WC > or =90 cm and TG > or =2 mmol/l. We assessed the relative risk (RR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) of CVD in groups defined according to both WC and TG levels.

Results: In this population, 41.2% of the subjects were classified as low WC/low TG, 43.2% as high WC/low TG, 3.5% as low WC/high TG and 12.1% as HTGW. During follow-up, 122 subjects had a CVD event. In this group, HTGW prevalence was 26.2%. After adjustment for age, RR (95% CI) for CVD for the HTGW group showed the highest association with CVD risk: 2.13 (1.21-3.76), using low WC/ low TG as the reference group.

Conclusion: HTGW was associated with the risk of CVD after 7.5 years of follow-up in a low-risk middle-aged men population. This marker may be used as a useful clinical tool to screen for men at risk of CVD.