title: Determinants of left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with recent diagnosis of essential hypertension.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Development of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a multifactorial phenomenon. We retrospectively assessed the risk factors for LVH in patients with recent diagnosis of essential hypertension.
  
  
  METHODS
  We analysed 1518 participants with recent diagnosis of essential hypertension (≤2 years). The duration of hypertension was established after cross-checking the patients' history and the records of the general practitioners'. The following cardiovascular (CV) risk factors were considered: age (men >55 years, women >65 years), SBP >140  mmHg, DBP >90  mmHg, obesity, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia, low or high-density lipoprotein (HDL)-cholesterol (men <40  m/dl, women <50  mg/dl), and chronic kidney disease (CKD).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age, prevalence of metabolic diseases, CKD, and the severity of hypertension were higher in patients with LVH. One hundred twenty-two (8%) patients did not have CV risk factors, whereas 288 (19%), 472 (31.1%), 351 (23.1%) and 285 (18.8%) patients had one, two, three and more than three CV risk factors, respectively. At univariate analysis, CV risk factors for LVH where found to be sex, age, SBP, low HDL-cholesterol, obesity, diabetes, CKD, and metabolic syndrome. In the multivariate analysis, the independent predictors of LVH were found to be sex, age, SBP, obesity and diabetes. A significant correlation was found between indexed left ventricular mass and body mass index (r(2) = 0.167), age (r(2) = 0.077) and SBP (r (2)= 0.055).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study reveals that, in patients with recent diagnosis of essential hypertension obesity represents the most important modifiable CV risk factor for LVH.
authors.affiliation: aDipartimento di Scienze Mediche Traslazionalie, Fondazione Salvatore Maugeri, IRCCS, Istituto Scientifico di Telese Terme bDipartimento Scienze Biomediche Avanzate, Università FEDERICO II, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buono
authors.forename: Salvatore
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Crispo
authors.forename: Gennaro
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pagano
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rengo
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Petitto
authors.forename: Fabrizia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Grieco
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Trimarco
authors.forename: Carmine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Morisco
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006439:Hemodynamics; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000150:complications* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors