Obesity and cardiovascular events in patients with established coronary disease

To explore the association between obesity and major adverse coronary events (MACE) in patients with established coronary artery disease (CAD). The Prevention of Events with Angiotensin Converting Enzyme-Inhibition (PEACE) Trial randomized 8290 patients with stable CAD and left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction (EF) (LVEF) > or =0.40 to trandolapril or placebo and followed them for a median of 4.8 years. In PEACE patients who were non-diabetic at baseline (5693 men and 1171 women), we used proportional hazards models to conduct a post hoc analysis to examine whether obesity, defined as a body mass index (BMI) > or =30 kg/m(2), is an independent risk factor for the composite endpoint of MACE, defined as cardiovascular death, non-fatal myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, or stroke. The analysis was conducted separately for men and women. The baseline prevalence of obesity was 28.5% in men and 28.9% in women. After adjusting for significant confounders, obesity was associated with MACE in men [hazard ratio (HR) = 1.28, 95% CI 1.13-1.46, P < 0.01], but not in women (HR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.70-1.31, P = 0.77). Further categorization of BMI showed a J-shaped association between BMI and MACE in the men, and no association in the women. In the presence of established CAD, obesity is associated with risk for MACE in men, but there is no support of an association in women. This finding requires further evaluation.