High rate of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction; most cardiac dysfunction is subclinical, unrecognized
WEDNESDAY, April 6, 2016 (HealthDay News) — Hispanics/Latinos frequently have cardiac dysfunction, which is usually subclinical or unrecognized, according to a study published online April 5 in Circulation: Heart Failure.
Hardik Mehta, M.D., from Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., and colleagues enrolled 1,818 participants of Hispanic/Latino origin aged 45 to 74 years in the Echocardiographic Study of Latinos. Left ventricular systolic dysfunction (LVSD) and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction (LVDD) were defined based on comprehensive echocardiography examination.
The researchers found that 49.7 percent of participants had LVSD and LVDD, with prevalences of 3.6 and 50.3 percent, respectively. LVSD was more likely among males and current smokers. Participants with LVDD were more likely to be females and to have hypertension, diabetes mellitus, higher body mass index, and renal dysfunction. Individuals of Central American and Cuban background versus Mexican background were almost twofold more likely to have LVDD in age- and sex-adjusted analyses. The prevalence of clinical heart failure with LVSD (heart failure with reduced ejection fraction) was 7.3 percent, while that of heart failure with LVDD (heart failure with preserved ejection fraction) was 3.6 percent. Overall, 96.1 percent of cardiac dysfunction was subclinical or unrecognized; the only factor independently associated with subclinical or unrecognized cardiac dysfunction was prevalent coronary heart disease (odds ratio, 0.1).
“Among Hispanics/Latinos, most cardiac dysfunction is subclinical or unrecognized, with a high prevalence of diastolic dysfunction,” the authors write.
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