CHICAGO — The obesity paradox in cardiovascular medicine may not extend to patients with cardiogenic shock, Dr. Paari Dominic Swaminathan said at the annual meeting of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.
Of 61 consecutive patients who presented to a Chicago hospital with cardiogenic shock secondary to acute MI, 24 were obese. Their in-hospital mortality rate was 33%, compared with just 3% in the 37 patients with a body mass index below 30 kg/m
The two groups were similar in terms of demographics and other baseline variables with one exception: The obese patients were significantly younger, with a mean age of 54 years, compared with 63 years in the nonobese.
There were no significant differences between obese and nonobese patients in terms of the two secondary study end points, length of stay and rehospitalization rate.
The obesity paradox is so-named because—despite compelling evidence that obesity is a strong independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease—numerous studies have documented better outcomes for obese patients as compared with nonobese ones with MI, heart failure, and following percutaneous coronary intervention.