Body Fat and Fitness for Ventricular Assist Device Therapy

By 2030, 1 of 2 adults in the United States will be obese, defined as a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 30 kg/m2, and nearly 1 in 4 will suffer from extreme obesity, a BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2.1 Obesity can impair left ventricular structure and contractile function and is an independent risk factor for the development of heart failure (HF). Although there is a modest protective benefit to being overweight once HF is established—the famous “obesity paradox”—an increasing number of obese patients with advanced systolic HF are undergoing evaluation for heart transplantation and durable mechanical circulatory support (MCS).
Source: Journal of Cardiac Failure - Category: Cardiology Authors: Tags: Editorial Source Type: research