Characteristics and impact of obesity on the outpatient echocardiography laboratory.

The impact of the growing obesity epidemic on the outpatient echocardiography laboratory and the characteristics of these patients were retrospectively investigated. Over a 6-month period, 916 patients were referred for study, 49.7% of whom were obese (body mass index >29.9 kg/m 2 ), whereas only 22.3% were normal weight (body mass index 18.5 to 25 kg/m 2 ). The obese patients were more likely to be female, black, older, and referred because of dyspnea or suspected heart failure (58.1% vs 36.8%, p