The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics
2013 , Vol 55 , Num 3
The Mechanical Properties and Stiffness of Aorta in Obese Children
Departments of 1Pediatrics and 2Biochemistry, Adnan Menderes University Faculty of Medicine, Aydın and 3Department
of Pediatrics, Tepecik Training and Research Hospital, İzmir, Turkey. E-mail: esra.arun@gmail.com
Obesity in children has also been associated with the development of early
cardiovascular abnormalities. The aim of this study was to investigate the
relationship between aortic stiffness and some risk factors in obese children.
Sixty obese children and 60 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were
assessed. The mechanical property parameters were measured or computed:
lumen diastolic and systolic diameters, aortic strain and elastic modules.
Compared to controls, obese children had altered stiffness values of the aorta,
whereas strain was not different. Compared to controls, obese children had
higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure values. Insulin level, homeostasis
model assessment (HOMA) score, and total cholesterol, triglycerides, lowdensity
lipoprotein (LDL), and leptin levels were significantly higher, while
adiponectin, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) levels and quantitative insulin
sensitivity check index (QUICKI) scores were significantly lower in obese
children than in controls. Obesity in children increases aortic stiffness,
which suggests that the joint effect of insulin resistance, serum leptin and
adipokine levels and obesity can have a considerable impact on preclinical
arterial changes and could play an important role in the early pathophysiology
of macrovascular disease.
Keywords :
obesity, aortic stiffness, children, echocardiography