Hypertensive Heart Disease-The Imaging Perspective

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Hypertension Research
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Hypertensive heart disease (HHD) results from prolonged elevated systemic blood pressure affecting cardiac structures.
• Chronic hypertension leads to left ventricular hypertrophy, interstitial fibrosis, diastolic dysfunction, and impaired atrial/ventricular mechanics.
• These cardiac alterations can progress to heart failure with preserved (HFpEF) or reduced (HFrEF) ejection fraction.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the clinical evaluation of patients with hypertension and suspected HHD.
• To emphasize the role and recent advancements in multimodality imaging for HHD diagnosis.
• To discuss the use of imaging in the differential diagnosis of HHD.

Main Methods:

• Review of clinical evaluation strategies for hypertension and HHD.
• Analysis of recent advancements in multimodality cardiovascular imaging techniques.
• Discussion of imaging findings in the context of HHD pathophysiology.

Main Results:

• Multimodality imaging plays a crucial role in diagnosing HHD.
• Recent imaging advances enhance the detection of subtle structural and functional cardiac changes.
• Imaging aids in differentiating HHD from other causes of cardiac dysfunction.

Conclusions:

• Accurate diagnosis of HHD relies on integrating clinical assessment with advanced imaging.
• Multimodality imaging is essential for identifying cardiac remodeling and dysfunction caused by hypertension.
• Imaging facilitates timely and accurate differential diagnosis, guiding appropriate patient management.