Title:The Impact of Uncontrolled Hypertension on the Longitudinal Systolic
Function of the Left Ventricle
Volume: 18
Issue: 1
Author(s): Nabila Soufi Taleb Bendiab*, Salim Benkhedda, Latifa Henaoui and Abderrahim Meziane Tani
Affiliation:
- Department of Cardiology, Faculty of Medicine, Aboubekr Belkaid University Hospital Tlemcen, Tlemcen, Algeria
Keywords:
Uncontrolled hypertension, echocardiography, strain, systolic, ventricle, LV mass.
Abstract:
Background: The assessment of the longitudinal component of left ventricular (LV)
function is of major clinical importance for the early detection of LV contractile impairment. The
aim of this study was to determine the impact of uncontrolled hypertension, on LV longitudinal systolic
performance.
Methods: The study population included 400 hypertensive patients: 271 patients with uncontrolled
blood pressure (BP) and 112 without controlled BP, all patients underwent a complete ultrasound
evaluation with the calculation of the LV mass, evaluation of diastolic function as well as longitudinal
systolic function.
Results: Conventional echo demonstrated that uncontrolled patients had increased LV mass (P
0.007), LA (left auricular) dimension (P 0.004), left ventricular wall thickness and impairment of
diastolic function (E/E’6 ± 2.1 vs 7.4 ±3.0 P=0.001) while no affection of systolic function could
be detected. By deformation imaging, there was a reduction in longitudinal strain (apical 4 view
-16.2 ±2.9 vs -18.2± 2.6 P 0.02, apical 3 view -17.3 ± 3.3 vs. -18.9 ± 4.1 P 0.01). Similarly, systolic
strain rate (SRsys) and early diastolic SR (SRe) reduced significantly in longitudinal direction.
Conclusion: Although EF was not different between uncontrolled patients and controls, LV longitudinal
strain and strain rate by 2D speckle tracking were lower in the uncontrolled group.