The relationships between anthropometric measurements, organ weights and intracranial, carotid and coronary atherosclerosis

Abstract Background Atherosclerosis is the most common cause of cardiovascular-cerebrovascular diseases. Obesity and atherosclerosis are related, and obesity can lead to systemic diseases and an increase in organ weight. Anthropometric measurements such as body mass index, waist circumference and hi...

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Main Authors: Hatice Kubra Ata Ozturk, Volkan Zeybek, Ayse Kurtulus Dereli, Kemalettin Acar, Ismail Dogu Kılıc, Ozgur Tekin, Alper Akca
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2025-03-01
Series:BMC Cardiovascular Disorders
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12872-025-04607-w
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author Hatice Kubra Ata Ozturk
Volkan Zeybek
Ayse Kurtulus Dereli
Kemalettin Acar
Ismail Dogu Kılıc
Ozgur Tekin
Alper Akca
author_facet Hatice Kubra Ata Ozturk
Volkan Zeybek
Ayse Kurtulus Dereli
Kemalettin Acar
Ismail Dogu Kılıc
Ozgur Tekin
Alper Akca
author_sort Hatice Kubra Ata Ozturk
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Background Atherosclerosis is the most common cause of cardiovascular-cerebrovascular diseases. Obesity and atherosclerosis are related, and obesity can lead to systemic diseases and an increase in organ weight. Anthropometric measurements such as body mass index, waist circumference and hip circumference are used to determine the risk of obesity. We conducted this study to evaluate the relationship between obesity and atherosclerosis in postmortem cases. We aimed to determine the relationships among anthropometric measurements; subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness; atherosclerosis in the intracranial, carotid, and coronary arteries and organ weights. Methods Prospective data analysis was performed from 230 forensic autopsies of 18–75-year-olds from 22/01/2020 to 22/01/2021. Age, sex, history of disease, cause of death, height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist/hip ratio, subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness, and organ weights of the patients were recorded. Atheroma plaques and stenosis in the intracranial, carotid, and coronary arteries were examined. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 29. The Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal Wallis tests were employed to compare continuous variables. Categorical variables were compared using the Chi-square test. Results This study included 187 (81.3%) males and 43 (18.7%) females, and the mean age of the patients was 49.3 ± 17.5 years. Body mass index was significantly and positively correlated with waist circumference, hip circumference, subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness, and the waist/hip ratio. Body mass index, waist/hip ratio, and subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness were significantly positively correlated with heart, liver, kidney, and spleen weights. While body mass index, waist/hip ratio, and subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness were negatively correlated with brain weight in females, this correlation was not detected in males. There were significant associations between the waist/hip ratio and atheroma plaque in the intracranial arteries and ≥ 50% stenosis in the LAD-RCA arteries. Conclusions The methods used in the assessment of obesity are important. In study, obesity was approached from a broad perspective by evaluating anthropometric measurements used for obesity diagnosis and atherosclerosis together with organ weights in postmortem cases. We believe that our study will contribute to the assessment of cardiovascular disease risk factors.
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series BMC Cardiovascular Disorders
spelling doaj-art-2042d577f66f44d6a2b441d5fe20a6bd2025-08-20T03:05:57ZengBMCBMC Cardiovascular Disorders1471-22612025-03-0125111110.1186/s12872-025-04607-wThe relationships between anthropometric measurements, organ weights and intracranial, carotid and coronary atherosclerosisHatice Kubra Ata Ozturk0Volkan Zeybek1Ayse Kurtulus Dereli2Kemalettin Acar3Ismail Dogu Kılıc4Ozgur Tekin5Alper Akca6Faculty of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, Pamukkale UniversityFaculty of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, Manisa Celal Bayar UniversityFaculty of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, Pamukkale UniversityFaculty of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, Pamukkale UniversityFaculty of Medicine, Department of Cardiology, Pamukkale UniversityFaculty of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, Pamukkale UniversityFaculty of Medicine, Department of Forensic Medicine, Pamukkale UniversityAbstract Background Atherosclerosis is the most common cause of cardiovascular-cerebrovascular diseases. Obesity and atherosclerosis are related, and obesity can lead to systemic diseases and an increase in organ weight. Anthropometric measurements such as body mass index, waist circumference and hip circumference are used to determine the risk of obesity. We conducted this study to evaluate the relationship between obesity and atherosclerosis in postmortem cases. We aimed to determine the relationships among anthropometric measurements; subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness; atherosclerosis in the intracranial, carotid, and coronary arteries and organ weights. Methods Prospective data analysis was performed from 230 forensic autopsies of 18–75-year-olds from 22/01/2020 to 22/01/2021. Age, sex, history of disease, cause of death, height, weight, body mass index, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist/hip ratio, subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness, and organ weights of the patients were recorded. Atheroma plaques and stenosis in the intracranial, carotid, and coronary arteries were examined. Statistical analysis was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 29. The Mann-Whitney U or Kruskal Wallis tests were employed to compare continuous variables. Categorical variables were compared using the Chi-square test. Results This study included 187 (81.3%) males and 43 (18.7%) females, and the mean age of the patients was 49.3 ± 17.5 years. Body mass index was significantly and positively correlated with waist circumference, hip circumference, subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness, and the waist/hip ratio. Body mass index, waist/hip ratio, and subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness were significantly positively correlated with heart, liver, kidney, and spleen weights. While body mass index, waist/hip ratio, and subcutaneous adipose tissue thickness were negatively correlated with brain weight in females, this correlation was not detected in males. There were significant associations between the waist/hip ratio and atheroma plaque in the intracranial arteries and ≥ 50% stenosis in the LAD-RCA arteries. Conclusions The methods used in the assessment of obesity are important. In study, obesity was approached from a broad perspective by evaluating anthropometric measurements used for obesity diagnosis and atherosclerosis together with organ weights in postmortem cases. We believe that our study will contribute to the assessment of cardiovascular disease risk factors.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12872-025-04607-wBody mass indexWaist–hip ratioSubcutaneous adipose tissueAtherosclerosisObesityOrgan weights
spellingShingle Hatice Kubra Ata Ozturk
Volkan Zeybek
Ayse Kurtulus Dereli
Kemalettin Acar
Ismail Dogu Kılıc
Ozgur Tekin
Alper Akca
The relationships between anthropometric measurements, organ weights and intracranial, carotid and coronary atherosclerosis
BMC Cardiovascular Disorders
Body mass index
Waist–hip ratio
Subcutaneous adipose tissue
Atherosclerosis
Obesity
Organ weights
title The relationships between anthropometric measurements, organ weights and intracranial, carotid and coronary atherosclerosis
title_full The relationships between anthropometric measurements, organ weights and intracranial, carotid and coronary atherosclerosis
title_fullStr The relationships between anthropometric measurements, organ weights and intracranial, carotid and coronary atherosclerosis
title_full_unstemmed The relationships between anthropometric measurements, organ weights and intracranial, carotid and coronary atherosclerosis
title_short The relationships between anthropometric measurements, organ weights and intracranial, carotid and coronary atherosclerosis
title_sort relationships between anthropometric measurements organ weights and intracranial carotid and coronary atherosclerosis
topic Body mass index
Waist–hip ratio
Subcutaneous adipose tissue
Atherosclerosis
Obesity
Organ weights
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12872-025-04607-w
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