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Left ventricular hypertrophy and cardiovascular mortality by race and ethnicity

Edward P Havranek1, Desiree B Froshaug, Caroline D B Emserman

  • 1Denver Health Medical Center, CO 80204-4507, USA. edward.havranek@dhha.org

The American Journal of Medicine
|October 1, 2008
PubMed

Insights

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) significantly increases cardiovascular mortality risk across all racial groups. This risk is disproportionately higher in African Americans compared to whites and Latinos, independent of blood pressure.

Area of Science:

  • Cardiology
  • Public Health
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a significant risk factor for cardiovascular mortality.
  • The role of LVH in racial and ethnic disparities in cardiovascular mortality is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the association between electrocardiographic (ECG) LVH and cardiovascular mortality across different racial and ethnic groups.
  • To determine if LVH contributes differently to cardiovascular mortality among whites, African Americans, and Latinos.

Main Methods:

  • Utilized data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and National Death Index.
  • Compared 10-year cardiovascular mortality in individuals with and without ECG LVH.
  • Employed Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusting for known prognostic factors.

Main Results:

  • ECG LVH was associated with increased 10-year cardiovascular mortality in all racial/ethnic groups.
  • The hazard ratio for this association was significantly higher in African Americans (2.31) compared to whites (1.32) and Latinos (2.11).
  • This disparity persisted independently of systolic blood pressure.

Conclusions:

  • ECG LVH contributes more significantly to cardiovascular mortality risk in African Americans than in whites.
  • Targeting LVH regression in therapy may help reduce racial disparities in cardiovascular mortality.
  • Further prospective validation is needed.
Abstract

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