Improvement in cardiovascular risk in women after bariatric surgery as measured by carotid intima-media thickness: comparison of sleeve gastrectomy versus gastric bypass

Background: Bariatric surgery may diminish cardiovascular risk (CVR) and its associated mortality. However, studies that compare these effects with different techniques are scarce.

Objective: To evaluate the changes in CVR as estimated by carotid intima-media thickness (IMT) after obesity surgery in women with high CVR as defined by the presence of metabolic syndrome.

Setting: Academic hospital.

Methods: We studied 40 severely obese women, of whom 20 received laparoscopic Roux en Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and 20 received sleeve gastrectomy (SG). Twenty control women matched for age and cardiovascular risk were also included. Patients and controls were evaluated at baseline and 1 year after surgery or conventional treatment with diet and exercise, respectively. Only 18 of the 20 women in the control group were available for analysis after 1 year. None of the women who had bariatric surgery was lost to follow-up.

Results: Mean carotid IMT decreased 1 year after surgery irrespective of the surgical technique used, whereas no changes were observed in the control women who had conventional therapy (Wilks´ λ = .802, P = .002 for the interaction, P = .011 for RYGB versus controls, P = .002 for SG versus controls, P = .349 for RYGB versus SG).

Conclusion: Both RYGB and SG decrease CVR as measured by carotid IMT in obese women.