Open Access

ARTICLE

Body mass index in adults with congenital heart disease

Mahmoud Zaqout^1,2, Kristof Vandekerckhove¹, Nathalie Michels², Laurent Demulier³, Thierry Bove⁴, Katrien François⁴, Julie De Backer³, Stefaan De Henauw², Daniel De Wolf¹

1 Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
2 Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
3 Department of Cardiology, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium
4 Department of Cardiac Surgery, Ghent University Hospital, Ghent, Belgium

* Corresponding Author: Mahmoud Zaqout, Department of Pediatric Cardiology, Ghent University, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, Ghent 9000, Belgium. Email:

Congenital Heart Disease 2019, 14(3), 479-486. https://doi.org/10.1111/chd.12751

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the status of body mass index (BMI) in adult people with congenital heart disease (ACHD).
Methods: Five hundred thirty‐nine adults with CHD (53.8% men) were seen in the outpatient clinic from 2013 to 2015 and compared to a reference population (n = 1737). The severity of CHD was categorized as mild, moderate, and severe ac‐ cording to standard guidelines. Patients were categorized based on BMI as under‐ weight (<18.5), overweight (25‐30), or obese (>30). Echocardiography and magnetic resonance imaging were used to measure ventricular function while exercise capac‐ ity was estimated via cardiopulmonary exercise test.
Results: Adults with CHD had slightly lower BMI than the reference group (24.1 ± 4.3 vs 24.6 ± 4.3; P = .012). Men in the mild and severe group (23.9 ± 3.6; 23.3 ± 4.4 vs 25.1 ± 3.7; P = .007; P = .023) and women in the severe group (21.6 ± 3.3 vs 24.2 ± 4.7; P < .001) had lower BMI compared to the reference group. In the subgroups, men with ventricular septal defect, coarctation of aorta/ventricular septal defect and Fontan cir‐ culation and women with Fontan circulation had lower BMI than the reference group. Underweight was more prevalent in women with severe lesions compared to the refer‐ ence group (22.2% vs 3.8%; P < .001). BMI was associated with age and exercise ca‐ pacity in patients with mild and moderate lesions, while higher BMI was related to better ventricular function in women with Fontan circulation.
Conclusion: Underweight was more prevalent in ACHD patients with severe lesions. Special attention should be paid to the possible existence of underweight‐related comorbidities.

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