Natural history of concentric left ventricular geometry in community-dwelling older adults without heart failure during seven years of follow-up

Abstract

Presence of concentric left ventricular (LV) geometry has important pathophysiologic and prognostic implications. However, little is known about its natural history in older adults. Of the 5,795 community-dwelling adults ≥65 years of age in the Cardiovascular Health Study, 1,871 without baseline heart failure had data on baseline and 7-year echocardiograms. Of these 343 (18%) had baseline concentric LV geometry (concentric remodeling 83%, concentric LV hypertrophy [LVH] 17%) and are the focus of the present study. LV geometry at year 7 was categorized into 4 groups based on LVH (LV mass indexed for height >51 g/m²·⁷) and relative wall thickness (RWT): eccentric hypertrophy (RWT ≤0.42 with LVH), concentric hypertrophy (RWT >0.42 with LVH), concentric remodeling (RWT >0.42 without LVH), and normal (RWT ≤0.42 without LVH). At year 7, LV geometry normalized in 57%, remained unchanged in 35%, and transitioned to eccentric hypertrophy in 7% of participants. Incident eccentric hypertrophy occurred in 4% and 25% of those with baseline concentric remodeling and concentric hypertrophy, respectively, and was associated with increased LV end-diastolic volume and decreased LV ejection fraction at year 7. Previous myocardial infarction and baseline above-median LV mass (>39 g/m²·⁷) and RWT (>0.46) had significant unadjusted associations with incident eccentric LVH; however, only LV mass >39 g/m²·⁷ (odds ratio 17.52, 95% confidence interval 3.91 to 78.47, p <0.001) and previous myocardial infarction (odds ratio 4.73, 95% confidence interval 1.16 to 19.32, p = 0.031) had significant independent associations. In conclusion, in community-dwelling older adults with concentric LV geometry, transition to eccentric hypertrophy was uncommon but structurally maladaptive.