Relationship between anthropometric and echocardiographic variables. Implications for donor selection in cardiac transplantation

Abstract Background and objectives Weight mismatch has been a controversial issue in the literature and there is also no agreement on the anthropometric parameter that best predicts outcome in such cases. The purpose of this study was to correlate anthropometric and echocardiographic variables to adequately select donors for cardiac transplant. Methods A total of 399 adult patients with normal echocardiograms were prospectively and consecutively included. Patients with coronary risk factors, systemic diseases and poor acoustic windows were excluded. Results The mean age of the population was 43 ± 17 years and 39% were male. All anthropometric variables were associated in a linear, positive and statistically significant manner with each of the echocardiographic variables. Marked variations in weight were accompanied by lesser variations in end-diastolic diameter in both men and women. End-diastolic diameter was greater in patients with normal weight compared to low-weight patients (4.46 ± 0.83 cm vs 4.09 ± 0.68 cm), p  = 0.013, and in overweight compared to normal weight patients (4.61 ± 0.88 cm vs 4.46 ± 0.83 cm), p  = 0.010, whereas there was no difference between obese and overweight patients (4.74 ± 1.14 cm vs 4.61 ± 0.88 cm), p  = 0.760. Conclusion Although anthropometric variations are associated with changes in heart size, such changes are not echocardiographically relevant. This exploratory study opens the door to further investigations to define the donor-recipient anthropometric threshold for accepting an organ in cardiac transplantation.