Comparison of cardiac structural and hemodynamic alterations in patients with morbid obesity and hypertension

	Obesity alone	Hypertension alone	Obesity and hypertension
Variable
Heart rate	Normal	Normal	Normal
Blood pressure	Normal	Increased	Increased
Stroke volume	Increased	Normal	Increased
Cardiac output	Increased	Normal	Increased
Systemic vascular resistance	Decreased	Increased	Normal or increased
LV volume	Increased	Normal	Increased
LV wall stress	Normal or increased	Normal or increased	Increased
LV hypertrophy	Eccentric	Concentric	Hybrid
LV diastolic dysfunction	Usually present	Usually present	Usually present
LV systolic dysfunction	Occasionally present	Usually absent	Occasionally present
LV failure	Occasionally present	Occasionally present	Commonly present
RV hypertrophy	Occasionally present	Usually absent	Occasionally present
RV enlargement	Occasionally present	Usually absent	Occasionally present
RV failure	Occasionally present	Usually absent	Occasionally present

LV: left ventricular; RV: right ventricular.

Adapted from: Alpert MA, Hashimi MW. Obesity and the heart. Am J Med Sci 1993; 306:117.

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