Fat cardiomyopathy in patients with severe degree of obesity. Case report

Currently, the world is constantly increasing the number of people with obesity. As was shown by the Framingham study, obesity is a risk factor for many cardiovascular diseases. The effect of obesity on the structure and function of the heart is manifested in the form of cardiac remodeling, the effect on energy metabolism in the heart and infiltration of both myocardium with lipids, and an increase in the accumulation of adipose tissue in the pericardium, imbalance of adipokines and activation of inflammatory markers. Cardiac remodeling occurs primarily due to thickening of the left ventricle (LV) walls and an increase in the LV myocardium mass. Systolic dysfunction of the heart is less common in obese individuals compared with diastolic dysfunction. However, more modern methods (tissue Doppler, visualization of the deformation of the chambers of the heart – strain imaging) reveal a subclinical decrease in systolic function in people with obesity. It is not fully known whether obesity is associated with systolic dysfunction, regardless of other risk factors. In any case, it has been proven that heart failure in people with obesity can develop independently of other risk factors. As an illustration, we give an example when the presence of obesity and concomitant pathology (arterial hypertension, diabetes) led to the development of systolic dysfunction with a decrease in the LV ejection fraction to 35% (fat cardiopathy), which show the potential for the influence of both obesity itself and in combination with concomitant diseases to lead to severe systolic heart failure.