Method of detecting the early stages of heart failure in arterial hypertension patients in prophylactic studies in an unselected population

: A total of 569 subjects (91.2% response rate) were examined from a 5% random sample of 40 to 64 year-old men and women in the framework of a prophylactic program on hypertension control. There are 181 patients (31.8%) suffering from arterial hypertension (blood pressure 160/95 mm Hg and above). In 111 of them cardiac insufficiency was diagnosed by standard clinical methods and in 60 patients by bicycle spiroergometry. Two-stage bicycle spiroergometry has some advantages over one-stage test: work load volume, physical adaptation coefficient, time of heart rate recovery were increased by 202.7%, 124.4% and 220%, respectively, the exercise tolerance being improved. Cardiac insufficiency was found in 35.3% of cases, latent IA stage, diagnosed by bicycle spiroergometry, being revealed in 18.3%, IB stage in 10.0%, IIA stage in 3.4% and IIB in 3.6% of cases.