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Influence of gender on the relation between the metabolic syndrome and left ventricular mass

Journal of Human Hypertension volume 23, pages 428–429 (2009)Cite this article

We are grateful to Schillaci and Pucci for their interest in our work1 and we appreciate the opportunity to answer the question that they put forward.

Schillaci and Pucci2 hypothesized that in our study previous anti-hypertensive treatment might have played a confounding role in the evaluation of the effect of gender on the relation between the metabolic syndrome (MetS) and left ventricular mass (LVM). However, as reported in our paper,1 the analysis of the interaction term ‘gender × MetS’ revealed no significant effect of sex on the association between MetS and LVM indexed for height2.7 (LVMH2.7), even after adjustment for previous pharmacological anti-hypertensive therapy. Furthermore, when we performed the same two-factor analysis of variance in the subset of patients never treated with anti-hypertensive drugs, as suggested by the authors,2 we found again no significant effect of gender on the association between MetS and LVMH2.7, both before (F=2.3; P=0.13) and after adjustment for age, duration of hypertension and 24-h systolic blood pressure (F=2.4; P=0.12).

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Medicina Interna, Malattie Cardiovascolari e Nefrourologiche, Cattedra di Medicina Interna e Cattedra di Nefrologia, European Society of Hypertension Excellence Centre, Università di Palermo, Palermo, Italy. E-mail: giusemme@unipa.it,

    G Mulè, P Cusimano, E Nardi, S Cottone & G Cerasola

Authors
  1. G Mulè
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  2. P Cusimano
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  3. E Nardi
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  4. S Cottone
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  5. G Cerasola
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Mulè, G., Cusimano, P., Nardi, E. et al. Influence of gender on the relation between the metabolic syndrome and left ventricular mass. J Hum Hypertens 23, 428–429 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/jhh.2008.160

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