Impact of Body Composition Indices on Ten-year Mortality After Revascularization of Complex Coronary Artery Disease (From the Syntax Extended Survival Trial)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.amjcard.2021.04.008Get rights and content
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Numerous studies have demonstrated a paradoxical association between higher baseline body mass index (BMI) and lower long-term mortality risk after coronary revascularization, known as the “obesity paradox”, possibly relying on the single use of BMI. The current study is a post-hoc analysis of the SYNTAX Extended Survival (SYNTAXES) trial, which is the extended follow-up of the SYNTAX trial comparing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) versus coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) in patients with left-main coronary artery disease (LMCAD) or three-vessel disease (3VD). Patients were stratified according to baseline BMI and/or waist circumference (WC). Out of 1,800 patients, 1,799 (99.9%) and 1,587 (88.2%) had available baseline BMI and WC data, respectively. Of those, 1,327 (73.8%) patients had High BMI (≥25 kg/m2), whereas 705 (44.4%) patients had High WC (>102 cm for men or >88 cm for women). When stratified by both BMI and WC, 10-year mortality risk was significantly higher in patients with Low BMI/Low WC (adjusted hazard ratio [HR]: 1.65; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.09 to 2.51), Low BMI/ High WC (adjusted HR: 2.74; 95% CI: 1.12 to 6.69), or High BMI/High WC (adjusted HR: 1.59; 95% CI: 1.11 to 2.27) compared to those with High BMI/Low WC. In conclusion, the “obesity paradox” following coronary revascularization would be driven by low long-term mortality risk of the High BMI/Low WC group. Body composition should be assessed by the combination of BMI and WC in the appropriate evaluation of the long-term risk of obesity in patients with LMCAD or 3VD.

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The SYNTAX Extended Survival study, during extension of follow-up up to 10 years, was supported by the German Foundation of Heart Research (Frankfurt am Main, Germany). The SYNTAX trial, during 0-5 year follow-up, was funded by Boston Scientific Corporation (Marlborough, MA, USA). Both sponsors had no role in the study design, data collection, data analyses and interpretation of the study data, nor were involved in the decision to publish the final manuscript. The principal investigators and authors had complete scientific freedom.

Trial registration: SYNTAXES ClinicalTrials.gov reference: NCT03417050

SYNTAX ClinicalTrials.gov reference: NCT00114972