[Importance of hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with ischemic events of the heart or brain].

Introduction and Objective: Hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy (H-LVH) is a potentially modifiable vascular risk factor (VRF) often overlooked in clinical practice. We aimed to evaluate the frequency of H-LVH in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) or ischemic stroke (IS).
Patients and Methods: We retrospectively assessed all the echocardiography studies of patients admitted with the diagnosis CHD or IS over a 4-year period.
Results: We studied 533 patients, 330 with CHD and 203 with IS. Mean age was 69 (±11) years, 61.5% males. Hypertension was the most common RF: 362 patients (67.9%) (CHD vs. IS: 70 vs. 64.5%; P=NS). H-LVH was seen in 234 patients (43.9%) (CHD vs. IS: 44.8 vs. 42.3%; P=NS). Patients with H-LVH were older and received a greater number of antihypertensive drugs at discharge. Half of patients with hypertension presented H-LVH (184 patients; 50.8%), with similar frequency in both groups (CHD vs. IS: 50.6 vs. 51.1%; P=NS). Neither patients' characteristics nor VRF with the exception of hypertension (P=.0001) were associated with H-LVH.
Conclusions: H-LVH is a major VRF in patients with ischemic events in the heart and brain. Nearly half the patients present H-LVH, with a similar frequency in both groups. It is important to identify H-LVH in these patients to optimize treatment and improve long-term prognosis.
(Copyright © 2015 SEHLELHA. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)