Abnormal myocardial deformation properties in obese, non-hypertensive children: an ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, standard echocardiographic, and strain rate imaging study

Abstract

Our study demonstrated that obesity, in absence of hypertension, is associated with significant reduction in systolic myocardial deformation properties already in childhood involving both right and left ventricle. Obesity not only is a risk factor for later cardiovascular disease, but also is associated with contemporaneous and significant impairment of longitudinal myocardial deformation properties.