Impaired right ventricular contractile function in childhood obesity and its association with right and left ventricular changes: a cine DENSE cardiac magnetic resonance study.

Background: Pediatric obesity is a growing public health problem, which is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and premature death. Left ventricular (LV) remodeling (increased myocardial mass and thickness) and contractile dysfunction (impaired longitudinal strain) have been documented in obese children, but little attention has been paid to the right ventricle (RV). We hypothesized that obese/overweight children would have evidence of RV remodeling and contractile dysfunction.

Methods: One hundred and three children, ages 8-18 years, were prospectively recruited and underwent cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR), including both standard cine imaging and displacement encoding with stimulated echoes (DENSE) imaging, which allowed for quantification of RV geometry and function/mechanics. RV free wall longitudinal strain was quantified from the end-systolic four-chamber DENSE image. Linear regression was used to quantify correlations of RV strain with LV strain and measurements of body composition (adjusted for sex and height). Analysis of variance was used to study the relationship between RV strain and LV remodeling types (concentric remodeling, eccentric/concentric hypertrophy).

Results: The RV was sufficiently visualized with DENSE in 70 (68%) subjects, comprising 36 healthy weight (13.6 ± 2.7 years) and 34 (12.1 ± 2.9 years) obese/overweight children. Obese/overweight children had a 22% larger RV mass index (8.2 ± 0.9 vs 6.7 ± 1.1 g/m, p < 0.001) compared to healthy controls. RV free wall longitudinal strain was impaired in obese/overweight children (-16 ± 4% vs -19 ± 5%, p = 0.02). Ten (14%) out of 70 children had LV concentric hypertrophy, and these children had the most impaired RV longitudinal strain compared to those with normal LV geometry (-13 ± 4% vs -19 ± 5%, p = 0.002). RV longitudinal strain was correlated with LV longitudinal strain (r = 0.34, p = 0.004), systolic blood pressure (r = 0.33, p = 0.006), as well as BMI z-score (r = 0.28, p = 0.02), waist (r = 0.31, p = 0.01), hip (r = 0.40, p = 0.004) and abdominal (r = 0.38, p = 0.002) circumference, height and sex adjusted.

Conclusions: Obese/overweight children have evidence of RV remodeling (increased RV mass) and RV contractile dysfunction (impaired free wall longitudinal strain). Moreover, RV longitudinal strain correlates with LV longitudinal strain, and children with LV concentric hypertrophy show the most impaired RV function. These results suggest there may be a common mechanism underlying both remodeling and dysfunction of the left and right ventricles in obese/overweight children.