Markers of early target-organ brain damage in essential arterial hypertension: the search continues. Possibilities of diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging

Abstract

The article touches upon the issue of brain as an end-organ target of essential arterial hypertension (AH). The article gives current information about the possibilities and potential clinical application of diffusion-tensor magnetic resonance imaging for the earliest assessment of white matter damage in patients with essential AH. Dataare presented upon the reduction of fractional anisotropy in hypertensive patients and its correlation with blood pressure level.

Keywords

• arterial hypertension
• blood pressure
• diffusion tensor imaging
• white matter
• fractional anisotropy