Higher BMI was associated with a greater prevalence of CTV-detected lower-extremity deep venous abnormalities, particularly stenosis and in the presence of comorbidities, but after multivariable adjustment BMI was not an independent predictor; male sex was the principal independent correlate of stenosis burden.
Overweight or obesity was highly prevalent among patients with lower-extremity deep venous abnormalities.
Males had significantly more lower-extremity deep venous stenoses per person than females.
In females, coexisting overweight/obesity with hypertension, diabetes, and/or hyperlipidemia was associated with higher thrombosis prevalence, a pattern not observed in males.
In multivariable logistic regression, no factor including BMI was independently associated with LEDV prevalence.
Male sex was independently associated with greater stenosis count and overall lesion burden in negative binomial regression.
BMI was not an independent predictor of LEDV abnormalities after multivariable adjustment.
This research suggests that while being overweight or obese was very common among patients found to have blood clots or narrowing in the deep veins of their legs (detected by a specialized CT scan called CTV), excess body weight alone did not independently predict who would have these venous problems once other factors were taken into account. The study looked at 349 patients and found that over 80% of those with venous abnormalities were overweight or obese, and that having obesity combined with conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, or high cholesterol was linked to more problems — especially in women for clots and in both sexes for narrowing of the veins. However, when researchers used statistical methods to account for multiple factors simultaneously, being male turned out to be the strongest independent predictor of having more venous narrowing (stenosis), with men having about 65% higher rates of stenosis compared to women. High blood pressure showed a borderline association. BMI on its own did not independently drive these outcomes after accounting for sex and other risk factors. This research suggests that the relationship between body weight and deep vein problems in the legs is complex and likely intertwined with sex differences and other health conditions rather than BMI being a direct, standalone cause. The authors note that these findings are hypothesis-generating due to the study's cross-sectional design, meaning it captures a snapshot in time and cannot establish cause and effect. Future longitudinal studies would be needed to better understand how these factors interact over time.
Lan Y, Xi Z, Lan K, Huang X, Feng N, Chen Y. (2026). The association between body mass index and lower extremity deep venous abnormalities identified by computed tomography venography.. Frontiers in public health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2026.1842325