Early left ventricular remodelling criteria and antihypertensive therapy effectiveness

Abstract

Aim. To identify the criteria of early left ventricular (LV) remodelling; to assess the baseline structure and function of left and right cardiac chambers, as well as their dynamics during adequate antihypertensive therapy (AHT), in patients with Stage 2 arterial hypertension (AH). Material and methods. In total, the study included 79 individuals: 35 patients with Stage 2 AH and 44 healthy volunteers. All participants underwent echocardiography (EchoCG), with the assessment of standard structural and functional remodelling parameters, as well as the original linear parameters “a”, “b”, and “c”, proposed by the authors. Twenty five AH patients were re-examined 1,5 years after the start of adequate AHT. Results. Even early stages of AH are characterised by left and right ventricular dysfunction, as a manifestation of complex heart reaction to pressure overload. Simple, accessible EchoCG criteria, specifically, linear parameters of LV geometry “a”, “b”, and “c”, have been proposed to assess LV remodelling at earlier stages, compared to traditional parameters and spherical index. Adequate AHT resulted in improvement of left and right heart structure and function, with geometric parameters “a” and “b” being the most sensitive criteria.Conclusion. In AH patients, the proposed linear parameters could be used as diagnostic criteria for earlyLV remodelling, as well as indicators of AHT effectiveness, considering their higher sensitivity, compared to traditional EchoCG parameters.

Keywords

• arterial hypertension
• left ventricular remodelling
• antihypertensive therapy