Assessment of hypertensive heart by 2-dimensional echocardiography in mass screening

Two-dimensional echocardiography (2DE) was used in the mass screening of 3,017 participants (1,195 males, 1,822 females, mean age 59) living in 13 areas in Japan. The 2DE findings of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and LV function were compared with the presence and severity of hypertension (Ht). Out of 1,100 patients who had an evident history of Ht above 160/95 mmHg (Ht group), 298 patients (27.4%) were complicated by LVH. In contrast, LVH was also recognized in 60 (11.2%) of 535 borderline Ht cases and in 87 (6.3%) of 1,382 normotension cases. LVH cases in the Ht group were divided into 3 groups: mild (220: 73.8%), moderate (63: 21.2) and severe (15: 5.0). Asymmetric septal hypertrophy (ASH) was recognized in 111 patients (37.2%) of the 298 LVH cases. The prevalence of ASH in these LVH patients was higher according to the severity of the LVH: mild LVH = 31%, moderate LVH = 51% and severe LVH = 67%. The prevalence of LVH was higher in males than in females. This was especially apparent in the moderate to severe LVH groups and also noted to be higher according to the increase of mean blood pressure. The prevalence of mild to moderate LVH was significantly higher in the poorly-controlled group than in the well-controlled group. In contrast, no significant difference in prevalence of severe LVH was noted between the well-controlled and poorly-controlled groups. The prevalence of LV dysfunction was significantly greater in moderate or severe LVH groups than in non or mild LVH groups. It tended to be higher in the poorly-controlled group compared with the well-controlled group. The regression of LVH was frequently detected in the well-controlled group by the follow-up study. We conclude that 2DE observation of LV performance in mass screening will be extremely valuable in the long term follow-up of Ht patients.