Left ventricular mass and systolic performance in chronic systemic hypertension.

This study was undertaken to define the relation between the extent of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and ventricular systolic performance in patients with chronic systemic hypertension. Ninety patients with chronic systemic hypertension were compared with 41 normal subjects as determined by angiography. LV mass was estimated from the M-mode echocardiogram. Patients were separated into 3 groups: those with LV mass of less than 2 (group I, n = 58), 2 to 4 (group II, n = 21) and more than 4 (group III, n = 11) standard deviations above mean normal. The ratio of preejection period to LV ejection time (PEP/LVET), percent shortening of the echocardiographic internal diameter (% delta D) and velocity of circumferential shortening (Vcf) were used as indexes of LV systolic performance. The frequency of abnormality, expressed as percent of patients in groups I, II and III, was 33%, 55% and 85% for PEP/LVET, 15%, 35% and 72% for % delta D, and 0%, 15% and 55% for Vcf. For each group PEP/LVET was the most frequently abnormal measure and Vcf was the least frequent abnormality. Calculation of peak and end-systolic wall stress was used as an index of the adequacy of LV hypertrophy. This index was significantly reduced in group I, did not differ from control in group II and was significantly increased in group III, indicating that hypertrophy was appropriate to wall tension in groups I and II. It is concluded that the occurrence of LV dysfunction with increasing LV mass in patients with moderate LV hypertrophy (group I and II) reflects a deficiency in intrinsic contractile performance of the hypertrophied myocardium.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)