The relationship between cardiac muscle, skeletal muscle mass, and vessel structure in elderly women

The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between left ventricular muscle mass, skeletal muscle volume and vessel structures in elderly women (n = 15, 76.0±5.4 years). We measured the thigh muscle thickness, and brachial and common carotid arterial diameter using B-mode ultrasound method. Posterior wall thickness, interventricular septal thickness, left ventricular end-diastolic internal diameter, and aorta artery were measured by B-mode echocardiography. No significant relationship was obtained between brachial and common carotid arterial diameters, and aortic diameter. On the other hand, significant correlation coefficients were obtained between cardiac muscle thickness and thigh muscle thickness (r=0.674, p<0.01). A significant correlation coefficient was also obtained between the estimated skeletal muscle volume and left ventricular mass [LVmass] (r=0.542, p<0.05). The slope of regression equation between estimated thigh muscle volume and LVmass in elderly women in this study was (y=0.11x +75.65) steeper than in children (y=0.06x+14.02) reported previously. These results indicate that the ventricular muscle (LVmass) is closely related to the skeletal muscle volume in ordinary elderly women and skeletal muscle mass at a given LVmass is smaller in elderly women than children.