Association of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy with Hemoglobin Levels in Nonanemic and Anemic Populations

It is established that anemia leads to adaptive changes in cardiac geometry including left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). However, published data are still scarce regarding the association of LVH with normal-range hemoglobin levels. To evaluate the association between hemoglobin level and LVH in subjects with or without anemia. Methods: The study included 48,034 Korean men and women who received echocardiography during their medical health checkup. They were divided into 4 groups according to their hemoglobin concentration (g/dL) in men (<14, 14-14.9, 15-15.9, and ≥16) and women (<12, 12-12.9, 13-13.9, and ≥15). Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to calculate adjusted ORs and 95% CI for LVH in each group compared with the group with the lowest hemoglobin. Subgroup analysis was conducted for subjects within normal hemoglobin levels. Results: There was an inverse relationship between hemoglobin levels and LVH, where unadjusted and adjusted ORs and 95% CI for LVH decreased with increasing hemoglobin levels in both men and women. In subgroup analysis, this inverse relationship was also observed in subjects with hemoglobin in the nonanemic range. Conclusion: The decrease in hemoglobin was significantly associated with the increased probability of LVH, and this association was found even in nonanemic subjects.