Formerly Larboard Ventricular Hypertrophy in Arterial Hypertension and Cardiopathy Jeopardy

Abstract

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an important, independent risk factor for not only total and cardiovascular mortality, but also for sudden cardiac death. Following blood pressure increase in hypertrophied LV, due to myocardial diastolic dysfunction, left atrium dilates very fast. That results in supraventricular extrasystolia, atrial fibrillation and flutter in 25750% of the patients with arterial hypertension (AH). The link between LVH and ventricular arrhythmia incidence and severity depends on LVH stage, and might be absent at mild to moderate, close to physiological, stages. Association between LVH and spontaneously induced ventricular arrhythmia has been demonstrated in adequately controlled experimental studies. In AH and LVH patients, arrhythmogenic risk factors include the following: late ventricular potentials, decreased heart rate variability, prolonged QRS duration, increased T interval dispersion and T wave alteration. Assessing arrhythmia risk in asymptomatic patients is a difficult task, that could be solved with an algorrhytm proposed.