Vasculopathy Augments Cardiovascular Risk in Community-Dwelling Elderly with Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the impact of various vasculopathies alongside left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) on cardiovascular risk in the elderly. This prospective cohort study included 3339 older adults from the Northern Shanghai Study, classified into four mutually exclusive left ventricular (LV) geometry groups based on echocardiographic data: normal geometry, concentric remodeling, eccentric hypertrophy, and concentric hypertrophy. Vasculopathy was categorized into three primary types: arteriosclerosis, atherosclerosis, and renal senescence. Major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs) were defined as non-fatal acute myocardial infarction, non-fatal stroke, and cardiovascular deaths according to ICD-10 codes. Over a median follow-up period of 5.7 years, 221 incident cases of MACEs were identified. Concentric hypertrophy exhibited the highest prevalence of hypertension, the most significant increase in vascular stiffness, and the highest rate of MACEs. The adjusted Cox regression analysis showed that eccentric hypertrophy is associated with an increased risk of MACEs (HR: 1.638 [95% CI: 1.151–2.331], p = 0.006), while concentric hypertrophy shows an even higher risk (HR: 1.751 [95% CI: 1.127–2.721], p = 0.013). Conversely, concentric remodeling was not significantly associated with an increased risk of MACEs. Renal senescence presents a moderate but significant risk for MACEs, with an HR of 1.361 (95% CI: 1.019–1.819; p = 0.037) when adjusted for LVH. The Kaplan–Meier analysis showed that patients with LVH and multiple vasculopathies experience the most significant decrease in survival probability (log-rank p < 0.001). The subgroup analysis revealed that LVH significantly raises the risk of MACEs, especially in older males with hypertension, diabetes, or vasculopathy. This study reinforces the importance of LVH as a predictor of adverse cardiovascular outcomes and underscores the compounded risk associated with the presence of multiple vasculopathies. Additionally, it highlights renal senescence as a distinct and independent risk factor for MACEs, separate from LVH.