Left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in elderly hypertensives: results of the APROS-diadys study.
BACKGROUND
A number of patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) have diastolic but not systolic dysfunction. This occurs particularly in the elderly and in hypertension, but the prevalence of diastolic dysfunction in elderly hypertensives without CHF has never been investigated systematically.


RESULTS
The Assessment of PRevalence Observational Study of Diastolic Dysfunction (APROS-diadys) project was a cross-sectional observational study on elderly (age >/= 65 years) hypertensives without systolic dysfunction [left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) >/= 45%] consecutively attending hospital outpatient clinics in Italy, in order to establish the prevalence of echocardiographic signs of diastolic dysfunction according to various criteria, and to correlate them with a number of demographic and clinical characteristics. Primary criteria for diastolic dysfunction was an E/A ratio (ratio between transmitral peak velocities of E and A waves) < 0.7 or > 1.5 on echocardiographic Doppler examination. Secondary criteria were: E/A < 0.5 and deceleration time (DT) > 280 ms, or isovolumic relaxation time (IVRT) > 105 ms or pulmonary vein (PV) peak systolic/peak diastolic flow (S/D) ratio > 2.5 or PV atrial retrograde flow (PV A) > 35 cm/s. Throughout Italy, 27 447 patients were screened in 107 clinics, with 24 141 excluded according to protocol. Among the remaining 3336 patients, 754 (22.6%) had signs of CHF. After exclusion of 37 protocol violators, 2545 patients (49.0% men, mean age 70.3 years, 95.4% under antihypertensive treatment) were studied ultrasonographically. Diastolic dysfunction (primary criteria) was found in 649 (25.8%) patients. Multiple logistic regression analysis found age, gender, left ventricular mass, systolic and pulse pressures and midwall shortening fraction as significant covariates. Using secondary criteria, the prevalence of diastolic dysfunction was higher (45.6%), mostly because of IVRT > 105 ms or PVA flow > 35 cm/s.


CONCLUSIONS
CHF and diastolic dysfunction are highly prevalent in elderly hypertensives attending hospital clinics.
Zanchetti
Alberto
A
Centro di Fisiologia Clinica, University of Milan, Ospedale Maggiore Milan, Italy. alberto.zanchetti@unimi.it
Cuspidi
Cesare
C
Comarella
Lisa
L
Rosei
Enrico Agabiti
EA
Ambrosioni
Ettore
E
Chiariello
Massimo
M
Leonetti
Gastone
G
Mancia
Giuseppe
G
Pessina
Achille C
AC
Salvetti
Antonio
A
Trimarco
Bruno
B
Volpe
Massimo
M
Grassivaro
Nicoletta
N
Vargiu
Giuseppe
G
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000959:Antihypertensive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003971:Diastole / Q000502:physiology*; D005080:Exercise Test; D005260:Female; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D018487:Ventricular Dysfunction, Left / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*
D000959:Antihypertensive Agents