Morphofunctional characteristics of the left ventricle in arterial hypertension: echocardiographic and Doppler study

The role of arterial hypertension in the development of left ventricular hypertrophy is well documented; in contrast, the characteristics of the right ventricle in this condition are poorly defined. To investigate whether structural and functional changes of the right ventricle are associated with systemic hypertension, we studied a total of 105 patients using M-mode, 2D and pulsed-Doppler echocardiography. Of these, 31 were hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (III), 42 were hypertensives without left ventricular hypertrophy (II) and 32 were normotensive controls (I). Right ventricular anterior wall thickness was measured from the parasternal window, in long axis. The following left and right ventricular filling parameters were evaluated using Doppler mitral and tricuspid flow analysis: the early (E) and late (A) peak velocity, the ratio E/A. Our results show that: right ventricular anterior thickness was 5.7 +/- 0.9 mm in III, 4.3 +/- 0.8 in II and 3.7 +/- 0.8 in I (p less than 0.05 II vs I, p less than 0.01 III vs II and I). There is a significant correlation between right and left ventricular wall thickness in the hypertensive population (r = 0.75, p less than 0.01). Left ventricular filling shows a progressive reduction in E and an increase in A with a progressive reduction in the E/A ratio from 1.47 in I to 1.31 in II and 0.78 in III. Similarly E/A ratio for right ventricular filling decreases from 1.70 in I, 1.32 in II and 0.92 in III.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)