Cardiovascular imaging for the assessment of obesity-related cardiovascular disease

Obesity has reached epidemic proportions throughout the world and is associated with numerous cardiac comorbidities, such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and hyperlipidemia. Through its direct effects on cardiac structure and function and its impact on conventional risk factors, obesity is strongly associated with cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure and coronary heart disease (CHD). Cardiovascular imaging is applied in daily clinical practice for the diagnostic assessment of patients with suspected CHD. Imaging allows the clinician to non-invasively assess and risk-stratify patients to allow for the proper management of CHD. Imaging modalities such as radionuclide cardiac stress imaging, echocardiography and, increasingly, cardiac computed tomography and cardiac magnetic resonance play an important role in the diagnosis of CHD in patients with obesity. Due to the increasingly prevalent nature of obesity and its strong association with cardiovascular disease, CHD remains the leading cause of mortality for adult patients with obesity. © 2009 Current Medicine Group, LLC.