title: Evaluation of left ventricular hypertrophy in patients requiring permanent pacing.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Hypertension may lead to left ventricular hypertrophy, fibrosis and degeneration of the conduction system. Our aim was to study the association of hypertrophy with certain arrhythmias such as complete atrioventricular block (AVB) and symptomatic sick sinus syndrome (SSS) that require implantation of permanent pacemaker.
  
  
  METHODS
  We studied 130 patients that had been given a pacemaker because of complete AVB, 130 patients that had been given a pacemaker because of symptomatic SSS and 45 patients without cardiac conduction disturbances. In order to estimate left ventricular hypertrophy, indexes of relative wall thickness (RWT) and left ventricular mass (LVM) were evaluated by echocardiography.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed significant association between complete AVB and abnormal values of echocardiographic indexes.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results lend further support to the hypothesis that complete AVB is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy. This hypothesis is enhanced by the observation that the majority of patients with complete AVB were hypertensive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, Athens General Hospital, Mesogeion Avenue, 154, 15669 Athens, Greece. aalexop@upatras.gr
authors.forename: Alexandros
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Alexopoulos
authors.forename: Anastasia
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Perpinia
authors.forename: Nikolaos
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Michelakakis
authors.forename: Charalambos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kossyvakis
authors.forename: Spyridon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deftereos
authors.forename: Vlassios
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pyrgakis
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D054537:Atrioventricular Block / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy; D002304:Cardiac Pacing, Artificial / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012804:Sick Sinus Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy