Association of blood pressure with left ventricular mass in untreated hypertensives in rural Yunnan province.

BACKGROUND Chinese rural residents make up one-eighth of the world's population. Hypertension (HTN) and its resultant cardiovascular complications are rapidly increasing in this vast segment of humanity, while its treatment and control remain unacceptably low. HTN is associated with increased left ventricular mass (LVM), but the magnitude and characteristics of this relationship in persons not undergoing treatment are unknown. METHODS We studied 344 randomly selected adults who were not being treated for HTN and who had ages between 50 and 70 years (mean age 57.8,51.7% female) using a questionnaire, height, weight, blood pressure (BP), and ultrasonic measurements of LVM. We performed bivariate and multivariable regression analysis to examine the relation of BP with LVM index (LVMI). RESULTS We found a HTN prevalence of 30%.There was a significant (P < 0.0001) linear relationship between BP and LVMI in this untreated population. Diastolic (DBP) compared to systolic BP (SBP) was more strongly associated with LVMI (β = 0.714 vs. 0.379, both P = 0.02). Persons with vs. without HTN had higher LVMI (102.5 g vs. 84.9 g, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS The LVMI of hypertensives, not undergoing treatment in rural Yunnan province is strongly related to BP, especially DBP.