Aims: Hypertension is one of several risk factors of cardiovascular disease and is associated with left ventricular (LV) systolic and diastolic dysfunction. A method for reliably detecting the onset of LV dysfunction before transition to irreversible damage of the myocardium would be of crucial importance in subjects with essential hypertension.
Methods and results: Subjects with clear differences in BP level, development and duration of the hypertensive disease were examined at the age of 60 yrs: normotensives (n = 17), new hypertensives who developed hypertension over a 20 year period (n = 15) and hypertensives (n = 19). Relationships between conventional echocardiographic and tissue velocities imaging (TVI) parameters compared to LV parameters, and TVI as an estimate of LV function were explored. E'(Lat) (TVI peak early diastolic velocity) (P = 0.006) and E/E'(Lat) (P = 0.002) demonstrated differences in diastolic function between the groups. There were no significant differences regarding systolic myocardial velocities. E'(Lat) correlated to S'(Lat) (TDI peak systolic velocity) (r = 0.32, P = 0.026) and was independently predicted by S'(Lat) (R(2) = 0.24, P = 0.025) in multivariate analysis. E'(Lat) correlated negatively to LV mass index (r = -0.34, P = 0.012), also in multivariate regression analysis (R(2) = 0.12, P = 0.032).
Conclusions: Myocardial diastolic velocities and mitral flow to annulus velocity ratio differentiated LV function between the hypertensive and normotensive groups. The parameters probably reflect changes in relaxation, recoil and contraction and parallel changes in LV mass index.