Prevalence and predictors of left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with hypertension and normal electrocardiogram

Background:Electrocardiography (ECG) has low sensitivity for detecting left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), while echocardiography cannot be routinely performed.Design/methods:In this study we evaluate the prevalence of LVH and diastolic dysfunction in hypertensive patients with normal ECG. We excluded patients with cardiovascular (CV) diseases, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or presenting ECG-LVH or other ECG anomalies. The enrolled 440 hypertensive patients underwent echocardiographic examination (Acuson Sequoia 512); LV mass was indexed by body surface area (LVMI) and LVH was defined as LVMI >125 g/m2 in men and >110 g/m2 in women. Diastolic function was evaluated by mitral inflow and tissue Doppler imaging (TDI).Results:The prevalence of LVH was 8.18% (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.97–11.1%). Multiple regression analysis showed that the only variable independently associated with LVH was duration of hypertension (p < 0.001). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve showed that duration of ...