[Myocardial systolic function of the left ventricle along the long axis in patients with essential hypertension: a study by pulsed tissue Doppler imaging].
OBJECTIVE
Myocardial contractility of the left ventricle along the long axis in hypertensives is not well characterized. The systolic velocities of the left ventricular myocardium along the long axis were measured by pulsed tissue Doppler imaging in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension. The relationships between the systolic velocity of left ventricular myocardium along the long axis and the blood pressure, and the left ventricular geometry were investigated.


METHODS
The study included 60 untreated hypertensive patients (hypertension group) and 59 age-matched healthy subjects (control group). M-mode echocardiograms were recorded, and the relative wall thickness, left ventricular mass index and left ventricular end-systolic stress were calculated. The peak systolic velocities of the left ventricular posterior wall motion (Sw) were measured by pulsed tissue Doppler imaging.


RESULTS
The Sw was significantly lower in the hypertension group than in the control group (8.3 +/- 1.9 vs 9.2 +/- 2.0 cm/sec, p < 0.05). The Sw was correlated inversely with systolic blood pressure (r = -0.31, p < 0.005), diastolic blood pressure (r = -0.25, p < 0.0001), interventricular septal thickness (r = -0.41, p < 0.0001), left ventricular posterior wall thickness (r = -0.39, p < 0.0001), relative wall thickness (r = -0.33, p < 0.001), and left ventricular mass index (r = -0.37, p < 0.001) in all subjects.


CONCLUSIONS
The systolic velocity of the left ventricular myocardium along the long axis is decreased in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension, and is negatively correlated with blood pressure and the severity of left ventricular concentric hypertrophy.
Department of Hypertension and Cardiorenal Medicine, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Kitakobayashi 880, Mibu-machi, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi 321-0293.
Tsutomu
T
Kobayashi
Kouichi
K
Tamano
Masaki
M
Takahashi
Takeaki
T
Honda
Shuichiro
S
Uetake
Masami
M
Ohrui
D000328:Adult; D004562:Electrocardiography; D006352:Heart Ventricles / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D016555:Matched-Pair Analysis; D008875:Middle Aged; D009200:Myocardial Contraction; D013599:Systole; D018617:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Pulsed; D016277:Ventricular Function, Left / Q000502:physiology*