Echocardiographic insights into the pathophysiology and prognostic significance of hypertensive cardiac hypertrophy.

Overview

Recent studies have shown that echocardiographically measured left ventricular (LV) mass is a strong predictor of cardiovascular morbidity in hypertension, possibly more important than blood pressure itself. Echocardiography has shown the left ventricle to be heterogeneous in hypertensive patients with regard to both the extent to which it uses increased myocardial mass or enhanced contractile performance to sustain the pressure load of hypertension and to the geometric patterns in which hypertensive LV hypertrophy occurs. The possible relationship of this heterogeneity of cardiac patterns in hypertension to differences in the etiology, pathogenesis, and prognosis of hypertension is a fruitful area for further investigation.