ESPE Abstracts

Key words: Childhood, Obesity, Periaortic fat thickness, Echocardiography, Cardiovascular risk.

Aim: To assess the periaortic fat thickness (PAFT) by echocardiograpy in a cohort of children with simple obesity and to evaluate its relationship to clinical and metabolic cardiovascular risk factors.

Methods: Fifty children and adolescents with simple obesity and 25 healthy sex and age matched controls were enrolled in the study. Periaortic fat thickness (PAFT) was measured by conventional echocardiography. Anthropometric measurements, and assessment of blood pressure status were performed. All participants were subjected to basal evaluation of plasma insulin, glucose, and lipid profile and underwent oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).

Results: PAFT (axial, sagittal) were significantly higher among obese group (2.41+ 0.51mm), (2.08+ 0.51) than controls (1.76+0.34), (1.57+ 0.35) (p values<0.001). In children with obesity, PAFT was significantly correlated with diastolic blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), cholesterol levels, fasting plasma glucose, 2-hours postprandial glucose, fasting insulin, and Homeostatic model assessment insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). There was significant increase in septal wall thickness, left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVEDD), and left atrial diameter among obese children than the controls (p values 0.001,0.003, 0.003) respectively.

Conclusion: Conventional echocardiography is a useful method for early detection of subclinical cardiovascular morbidities in pediatric obesity. The measurement of PAFT by conventional echocardiography is easy and convenient method for early prediction of atherosclerotic changes among obese children.