[High prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with hypertension of long course]

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is the most frequent manifestation of cardiac damage in hypertension. The objective of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of LVH in hypertensive patients of long evolution at Primary Care (PC) and to describe their epidemiological profile.

915 hypertensive patients treated for more than 5 years with antihypertensive drugs, who were attended in a consecutive way by de PC physicians, were evaluated in a multicentral and descriptive study. Clinical evaluation data together with electrocardiographic (EKG) and laboratory results were recorded. LVH was assessed by the Cornell and/or Sokolow-Lyon criteria.

Study population was characterized by a mean age of 68.7 years, 63% women, 31.6% diabetics, and 37.5% presented controlled blood pressure levels. 30.5% of them presented LVH criteria on EKG, being more prevalent among women, and on the other hand, women with LVH were of a greater age. 30% of patients presented history of cardiovascular disease and heart failure was more frequent among those with LVH. 54% were polymedicated with blood pressure lowering drugs, however there were no differences between groups of patients with and without LVH regarding their treatment. The Cornell criterion and the Sokolow-Lyon criterion alone were presented in a 77% and 12% of patients, respectively, and 11% of them were positive for both criteria. Patients with positivity for only the Cornell criterion were characterized by a greater prevalence of women and obesity.

The prevalence of LVH assessed by EKG criteria is high among hypertensive population of long evolution. A greater effort is needed to guarantee a periodic EKG performance in hypertensive patients together with a therapeutic strategy improvement.