Gender and the relationship between resting heart rate and left ventricular geometry

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Hypertension Research
• Cardiovascular Imaging

Background:

• Elevated resting heart rate and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) are associated with increased mortality.
• Understanding the relationship between heart rate and cardiac structure is crucial for cardiovascular risk assessment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between resting heart rate and left ventricular geometry.
• To explore potential differences in this relationship between sexes and in hypertensive individuals.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of resting heart rate and echocardiographic data from 1,685 adults (756 males, 929 females) from the Egyptian National Hypertension Project.
• Participants included normotensive and untreated hypertensive individuals, excluding those with heart failure.
• Resting heart rate was determined as the mean of the last two of three readings.

Main Results:

• A weak inverse relationship was observed between left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and heart rate in both males and females after controlling for age and blood pressure.
• Relative wall thickness (RWT) of the left ventricle was positively associated with heart rate in females.
• Hypertensive females with higher RWT and LVH exhibited consistently higher resting heart rates compared to those with normal geometry.

Conclusions:

• In hypertensive females, an elevated resting heart rate is associated with abnormal left ventricular geometry, specifically concentric remodelling and hypertrophy.
• No significant relationship between resting heart rate and left ventricular geometry was found in males.