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Low incidence of cardiac hypertrophy in essential hypertensives with no retinal changes
V de Leonardis1, A Becucci, M De Scalzi
1Istituto di Clinica Medica IV, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy.
Insights
Fundoscopy is more sensitive than echocardiography for detecting hypertensive disease. Patients without retinal changes have low risk of left ventricular hypertrophy, while those with hypertrophy often show retinal involvement.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Ophthalmology
- Hypertension Research
Background:
- Hypertension can lead to target organ damage.
- Assessing organ involvement is crucial for managing hypertensive disease.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the sensitivity of fundoscopy and echocardiography in detecting hypertensive target organ damage.
- To investigate the relationship between hypertension severity and organ involvement.
Main Methods:
- 120 subjects (90 hypertensive, 30 controls) underwent fundoscopy and echocardiography.
- Hypertensive patients were categorized by diastolic blood pressure (mild, moderate, severe).
Main Results:
- No significant difference in left ventricular mass across hypertension severity groups.
- No direct relationship found between hypertension degree and fundoscopic change severity.
- Absence of retinal changes correlated with low probability of left ventricular hypertrophy.
- Presence of left ventricular hypertrophy correlated with high probability of retinal involvement.
Conclusions:
- Fundoscopy demonstrates higher sensitivity than echocardiography in recognizing hypertensive disease.
- Retinal examination is a valuable tool for identifying hypertensive organ damage, particularly left ventricular hypertrophy.
Abstract:
120 subjects, 90 hypertensives and 30 age-matched controls, were evaluated by fundoscopy and echocardiography to assess the degree of target organ involvement. The hypertensive patients were divided into 3 groups (mild, moderate, severe hypertension) according to their diastolic blood pressure levels. No significant difference was demonstrated in left ventricular mass among the 3 groups. Moreover, no relationship was demonstrated between the degree of hypertension and the severity of fundoscopic changes. Our findings indicate that patients with no retinal changes show a low probability of left ventricular hypertrophy and that patients with left ventricular hypertrophy show a high probability of retinal involvement. Our data indicate that fundoscopy is more sensitive than echocardiography in the recognition of the hypertensive disease.