NEW YORK (Reuters Health) Apr 06 - Obese patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who have normal myocardial perfusion on single-photon emission computed tomography (MPS) have a lower risk of death from cardiac causes that their leaner counterparts.

A prospective study of 4720 patients with known CAD and 10,019 patients with suspected CAD, conducted by Dr. Daniel S. Berman, of Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, and colleagues assessed the relationship between body mass index and the prognostic value of MPS.

Obese, overweight and normal weight patients with or without known CAD and a normal MPS had similar rates of cardiac deaths, less than 1% annually.

Obese and overweight patients with known CAD and an abnormal MPS had a lower risk of cardiac death than their normal-weight counterparts. Normal-weight patients with low ejection fractions also had the highest rate of cardiac death.

Dr. Berman's team found that body mass index was not predictive of cardiac death in patients with suspected CAD, but it was an independent inverse predictor of cardiac death in patients with known CAD. This relationship was especially strong in women, those with a low ejection fraction, abnormal MPS and adenosine stress.

The results are published in the April 4th issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Reuters Health Information 2006. © 2006 Reuters Ltd.
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