Decrease of left ventricular mass is a clinically valuable intermediate end-point of antihypertensive treatment.

Abstract

The presence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in hypertensive patients, recognized clinically by electrocardiography or echocardiography, is an adverse prognostic sign and a powerful predictor of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, independent of blood pressure and other cardiovascular risk factors. Several pathophysiological changes accompany the myocytic growth and fibrosis that characterize hypertensive LVH and have been invoked to explain the association of LVH with increased cardiovascular risk. These include: impairment of diastolic function, and probably also of systolic performance, at least during exercise; reduced coronary blood flow reserve; predisposition to ventricular arrhythmias; alteration in cardiac autonomic nervous system activity. All these data have led to the opinion that regression of LVH should be a major goal in the treatment of hypertensive patients and might predict an improvement in prognosis.