Impact of weight loss on the cardiovascular system after bariatric surgery

Introduction. Obesity is a chronic disease with a great impact on the cardiovascular system through its association with type II diabetes, hypertension, dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome (MetS) and also through direct alterations in cardiac performance and morphology. Recent long term studies prove that substantial weight loss obtained via bariatric surgery is capable of improving cardiac risk factors associated with severe obesity, decreasing the mortality rates.

Aim: to assess the long-term changes in cardiovascular risk and cardiac structure in obese patients who had lost weight after laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG).

Methods. Fifty-two severe obese patients (44±9 years, 57.7% women, BMI=45±8 kg/m2) underwent clinical and biochemical examination and Doppler echocardiograms before and 5 years after LSG.

Results. Pre-operatively, 78.4% of patients were hypertensive, 46.2% had diabetes, 73.1% MetS and 44.2% presented left ventricle hypertrophy (LVH), reflecting high cardio-metabolic risk. The patients reassessment was made 61.7±10.5 months after LSG, when a decrease in BMI of 21.9±10% was achieved (p<0.001). The prevalence of hypertension (64.7%), diabetes (32.7%) and MetS (28.8%) decreased compared to the pre-operative examination (p=0.019, p<0.001, p=0.036). An increase in left ventricle mass and left ventricle mass index (LVMI) (p<0.001) and in the prevalence of LVH (57.7%-p=0.001) was recorded. Patients were divided into two groups based on the decrease in LVMI (positive response-38.5%) or increase in LVMI post-surgery (negative response-61.5%), compared with pre-operative values. The group of patients with negative response had lost less weight (p=0.006), had a poor glycemic control (p=0.022), and higher systolic (p=0.004) and diastolic (p=0.030) pressure values compared to the first evaluation.

Conclusion. The increase of LVMI after LSG indicates that this study should continue, including a larger number of patients. It is important to identify the factors that can predict an inappropriate response to surgery, in order to prevent and treat them.