The impact of obesity on subclinical coronary atherosclerosis according to the risk of cardiovascular disease

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate whether the association of obesity with coronary atherosclerosis depends on the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).

Methods: A total of 1,406 asymptomatic Korean adults underwent both cardiac and abdominal multislice computed tomography (MSCT) as part of a routine health check-up. Obesity was measured using body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and MSCT-derived area/ratio of visceral and subcutaneous fat. The burden of CVD risk was assessed by the Framingham risk equation.

Results: In the low-risk group for CVD, obesity measurements (standardized odds ratio, 95% confidence interval) of BMI (1.406, 1.197-1.652), WC (1.707, 1.434-2.032), visceral fat area (1.700, 1.438-2.009), and visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio (1.620, 1.379-1.903) were associated with the presence of coronary calcification after adjusting for traditional CVD risks. But in the moderate-to-high risk group, the associations were attenuated. For additional adjustments of obesity measurements, in the low-risk group, WC (1.717, 1.172-2.514) and visceral-to-subcutaneous fat ratio (1.400, 1.029-1.904) were independent determinants of coronary calcification.

Conclusions: Obesity is differentially associated with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis, according to the burden of CVD risk. In low-risk adults, the relative distribution of abdominal fat, as well as whole body fat, is important to coronary atherosclerosis.