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Cardiac imaging in patients with arterial hypertension
Francesco Antonini-Canterin1,2, Elisa Leiballi2, Flavia Martinis3,2
1Unit of Cardiac Rehabilitation, Sacile/CRO, Aviano, Pordenone, Italy.
Insights
Hypertension significantly impacts cardiovascular health. This review explores how echocardiography and other imaging methods assess these effects, aiding in risk management.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Hypertension is a primary modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
- Conventional echocardiography is a widely used, noninvasive tool for assessing cardiac structure and function.
- Advanced imaging modalities are increasingly important for specific patient groups.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the role of echocardiography in evaluating hypertension's cardiovascular effects.
- To discuss the utility of other imaging techniques in this context.
Main Methods:
- Literature review of echocardiography, MRI, 3-D echocardiography, and arterial stiffness assessment.
- Analysis of imaging findings related to hypertension-induced cardiovascular changes.
Main Results:
- Echocardiography effectively detects anatomical and functional changes in hypertension.
- Advanced techniques like MRI and 3-D echo offer valuable insights in select cases.
- Arterial stiffness can be evaluated using ultrasonographic echo-tracking.
Conclusions:
- Echocardiography is crucial for assessing cardiovascular impact of hypertension.
- A combination of imaging techniques provides comprehensive evaluation.
- These methods aid in managing hypertension-related cardiovascular risks.
Abstract:
Hypertension is considered the major modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Conventional echocardiography is the most common and used imaging technique and can detect anatomical and functional changes easily in a real-time, quick, noninvasive and relatively inexpensive manner. Other imaging techniques, such as magnetic resonance imaging and 3-D echocardiography gained an increasing role in selected patients, as well as the study of arterial stiffness, also using ultrasonographic echo-tracking methods. This review analyzes the role of echocardiography and other imaging techniques in the evaluation of the cardiovascular effects of hypertension.