Professional Documents
Culture Documents
com on
Introduction
Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The presence of hypertension more than doubles the risk for coronary heart disease, including acute myocardial infarction and sudden death, and more than triples the risk of congestive heart failure as well as strokes[1]. Patients with high blood pressure frequently have abnormalities of cardiac structure or function, including left ventricular hypertrophy, systolic and diastolic dysfunction and in extreme cases, overt heart failure. There may also be concomitant or related coronary heart disease and an increased risk of arrhythmias and sudden death. Many of these factors are inter-related and their individual contributions are dicult to quantify. There is, however, some debate as to whether hypertensive cardiomyopathy exists as a separate entity specic to hypertension. The term cardiomyopathy, however, would normally be reserved for intrinsic myocardial disease, where underlying causes such as hypertension and coronary artery disease have been excluded. Therefore, the preferred term should perhaps be hypertensive heart disease, and given the many mechanisms by which the heart may be abnormal in hypertension, the term hypertensive heart disease is probably not so controversial. The purpose of this review is to describe the various mechanisms whereby the heart is abnormal in hypertension and to discuss the possibility of a discrete entity called hypertensive cardiomyopathy.
1654
G. Y. H. Lip et al. diurnal variation in blood pressure, with mean daytime blood pressures being at least 10% higher than mean nocturnal blood pressure (dipping). Non-dipping is arbitrarily dened as a nocturnal fall in blood pressure of less than 10% compared to mean daytime readings[18]. Non-dippers are considered to have a greater 24 h blood pressure load when compared to dippers, as well as greater end-diastolic volumes[19] and, in some studies, more left ventricular hypertrophy[8]. However, one meta-analysis of 19 studies published before 1994 found that the left ventricular mass was only weakly associated with the daynight blood pressure dierence[21]. It has also been suggested that nocturnal falls in pressure could induce myocardial ischaemia in hypertensives with left ventricular hypertrophy and impaired coronary vasodilator reserve, perhaps contributing to the so-called J curve, which has been previously observed in some retrospective studies where diastolic blood pressure was lowered below 85 mmHg, resulting in increased coronary events[22]. Kario et al.[23] also found that more magnetic resonance imaging scan evidence of silent cerebrovascular disease was present in extreme dippers, whose fall in nocturnal systolic pressure was greater than 20%. By contrast, the recent large prospective Hypertension Optimal Treatment (HOT) trial showed no evidence of a J curve in the short-term amongst hypertensive patients including those with previous coronary heart disease[24].
presence of left ventricular hypertrophy, the ECG is also indicative of increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. In the Framingham Study, for example, ECGleft ventricular hypertrophy increased the risk of cardiovascular disease from three- to seven-fold depending on age and sex of the patient[9].
Review
1655
limitations, such as the long acquisition time, expense, availability, and unsuitability for critically ill patients, restrict the use of magnetic resonance imaging in some patients.
The ECG
Left ventricular hypertrophy can also be assessed by analysing the electrocardiogram by various means. Several methods have been evaluated[39]: (i) the RomhiltEstes Point-Score System of d4 has a sensitivity of 12% and a specicity of 87%; (ii) the more commonly used SokolowLyon Index (SV1 +SV5 or V6 d35 mV) has a sensitivity of 22% and a specicity of 79%, and a SokolowLyon Index (RaVL d11 mV) has a sensitivity of 18% and a specicity of 92%; (iii) the Cornell system has a sensitivity of 31% and a specicity of 87%; and (iv) the Rodrigez Padial system has a sensitivity of 82% and a specicity of 8%[39]. Thus most forms of interpreting the electrocardiogram with regards to left ventricular hypertrophy are not useful as a screening tool. This can be marginally improved by multiplying the QRS voltage by the QRS duration, thus increasing the specicity to 96% and the sensitivity to about 50%[40]. Crudely speaking, the features of left ventricular hypertrophy on the ECG normally mean that true left ventricular hypertrophy is present, but its absence does not mean that left ventricular hypertrophy is absent indeed, ECGleft ventricular hypertrophy is clearly an insensitive measure of left ventricular hypertrophy, but when present is a powerful predictor of cardiovascular events[9].
Postmortem
The classic studies from decades ago by Devereux and Reichek[31] and Jones[32] reported that the normal mean total ventricular weight is below 250 g; the left ventricle and the interventricular septum usually weigh less than 190 g; and the right ventricular free wall is below 65 g. Left ventricular hypertrophy exists when the left ventricular plus septal weight exceeds 225 g[31]. In hypertensive heart disease, in the absence of symptomatic heart failure, overall heart weight is often greater than 350 g, and in the presence of heart failure, values in excess of 400 g have been reported[32]. However, this may be a simplistic viewpoint as individual values for normal and abnormal are likely to vary by age, sex and size of the individual.
Echocardiography
For echocardiographic assessment of left ventricular hypertrophy several upper limits of normal for left ventricular mass have been suggested. Epidemiological data from the mainly white population of the Framingham study dened left ventricular hypertrophy as left ventricular mass in relation to total body surface area >131 g . m2 for men and >100 g . m 2 for women[33]. In a racially mixed normotensive population, 134 g . m 2 for men and 110 g . m 2 for women were identied as upper limits of normal[34]. Another way of dening left ventricular hypertrophy with echocardiography is by indexation of the left ventricular mass for the power of its relationship to body height. Thus, the cut-o point for left ventricular hypertrophy normalized to height was reported by de Simone et al.[35] as 126 g . m 1 and 50 g . m 27 for men and 105 g . m 1 and 47 g . m 27 for women. Despite diering criteria, the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy still remains a powerful predictor of mortality and morbidity in hypertension[36].
1656
G. Y. H. Lip et al. reasons to believe that the left ventricular hypertrophy associated with hypertension may dier from that seen in association with aortic valve stenosis, with subtle morphological and histological dierences[54]. In cases of left ventricular hypertrophy secondary to aortic valve stenosis, the abnormalities of diastolic function normalize over time, and a reduction of brous tissue can be observed following aortic valve replacement[54]. However, the left ventricular hypertrophy of hypertension is not only related to the amount of afterload, but also to neurohormonal factors, particularly the local and circulating reninangiotensin aldosterone systems[55]. Furthermore, aldosterone is one of many potent stimulators of myocardial brosis. Friedrich et al.[56] infused the angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor, enalaprilat, into the left coronary artery and found an improvement in left ventricular diastolic distensibility and regional relaxation and lling in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy due to aortic valve stenosis. Thus, the cardiac renin angiotensin system is also involved in patients with concentric pressure overload hypertrophy, such as aortic valve stenosis. At the cellular level, the intraventricular pressure overload of hypertension as well as aortic stenosis results in myocytic hypertrophy and increased perimyocytic brosis. However, intramyocardial arteriole wall-thickening and enhanced perivascular brosis are distinctive features of hypertension, but are not seen in aortic stenosis[48]. These observations are suggestive of distinct, but important dierences between left ventricular hypertrophy secondary to hypertension and aortic stenosis.
myocardium[43], with particular reference to myocyte and broblast proliferation[44]. Factors such as angiotensin II, endothelin-1 and aldosterone all have eects on broblast proliferation. Growth hormone, thyroxin, volume and pressure loading are other factors contributing to myocyte proliferation[45]. The relative increase in broblastic activity that occurs in hypertensive heart disease may be an important factor in pathological rather than physiological left ventricular hypertrophy. Cardiac myocytes of the left ventricle are enlarged in hypertensive heart disease[46] and brosis is another feature of the adverse structural remodelling found in the myocardium in hypertensive heart disease[47]. Coronary resistance vessels are also remodelled in hypertensive heart disease, with perivascular brosis of intramyocardial coronary arteries and arterioles, together with thickening of their media[48]. Furthermore, brosis and myocyte changes are a feature of heart failure secondary to causes other than hypertension, and treatments such as the ACE inhibitors can benecially aect these abnormalities[49]. Besides contractile disturbance of cardiomyocytes and interstitial and perivascular brosis, cardiomyocyte loss is now being considered as one of the determinants of the maladaptive process implicated in the transition from compensated to decompensated left ventricular hypertrophy. Involvement of apoptosis in the development of left ventricular hypertrophy was rst demonstrated in rats during aortic banding induced cardiac hypertrophy (even without failure)[50]. Recent reports have also shown an increase in apoptotic myocytes in failing hearts, although this did not indicate whether this was a cause or consequence of heart failure[51,52]. The increased numbers of apoptotic cells present in the failing hearts of spontaneous hypertensive rats as compared to non-failing spontaneous hypertensive rats suggests that apoptosis might be the mechanism involved in the reduction of myocyte mass that accompanies the transition from compensated left ventricular hypertrophy to cardiac failure[53]. These observations need to be translated into the clinical scenario as further work is clearly needed to assess the contribution of ultra-structural changes to the morbidity and mortality associated with hypertensive heart disease and whether they are an independent feature of hypertensive heart disease rather than simply being features of associated underlying disease.
Pressure overload
Both aortic stenosis and arterial hypertension lead to pressure overload of the left ventricle. Therefore if pressure overload was to be the sole stimulus for left ventricular hypertrophy the results should be identical. Nonetheless, dierent models inducing left ventricular hypertrophy showed heterogeneity of myocardial remodelling with varying quantity and distribution of brillar collagen, in addition to varying degrees of intramyocardial arterial adaptation[57,58]. The intraventricular pressure overload of hypertension as well
Does the left ventricular hypertrophy of hypertension dier from left ventricular hypertrophy of aortic stenosis?
The structural changes seen in the myocardium associated with left ventricular hypertrophy, such as increased interstitial replacement and perivascular brosis, and myocardial scarring can be caused by both hypertension and aortic valve disease. However, there are
Eur Heart J, Vol. 21, issue 20, October 2000
Review as aortic stenosis results in myocytic hypertrophy and increased perimyocytic brosis. However, intramyocardial arteriole wall-thickening and enhanced perivascular brosis are distinctive features of hypertension that are not seen in aortic stenosis[48].
1657
angiotensin II in the presence of systemic hypertension provokes predominantly left ventricular myocardial necrotic lesions[72], which may be relevant in some patients with very high endogenous levels of angiotensin II[71].
Reninangiotensinaldosterone system
Several growth factors have been implicated in initiating and maintaining myocardial hypertrophy[59,60]. In particular, the reninangiotensinaldosterone system is likely to have an important role in hypertensive heart disease, and both angiotensin-II and aldosterone are known to cause myocardial brosis[55]. Hypertension-induced left ventricular hypertrophy results in increased myocardial brosis, but chronic pressure overload per se does not cause myocardial brosis, as demonstrated with experiments of infrarenal aortic banding causing left ventricular hypertrophy without brosis[58]. Only after activation of the renin angiotensinaldosterone by suprarenal banding would brosis be found in the hypertensive, hypertrophied left ventricle. Similar changes can be observed after simulated reninangiotensinaldosterone activation with intravenous administration of angiotensin II or aldosterone, suggesting an important role of the renin angiotensinaldosterone in the development of left ventricular hypertrophy and brosis[61]. Furthermore, myocardial brosis is associated with increased expression of angiotensin converting enzyme and bradykinin receptor binding at sites of repair[62]. It is also recognised that there are both circulating and tissue renin angiotensin systems. Tissue reninangiotensin aldosterone components are found in the lungs, myocardium, brain, kidneys, and testes, and in or around blood vessels with possible vasoconstriction eects[63]. An important role for the reninangiotensin system is suggested by the impressive eect of angiotensinconverting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, and more recently the angiotensin II receptor antagonists in causing regression of hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy[64,65], and in preventing remodelling and improving prognosis after myocardial infarction[66,67]. Furthermore, there is a close correlation between circulating reninangiotensin levels and left ventricular mass[68,69]. The reninangiotensinaldosterone may also explain some clinical observations related to the heart in hypertension. For example, patients with renal artery stenosis may develop ash pulmonary oedema due to increased angiotensin-II levels, and correction of the renal artery stenosis may be curative[70]. The role of angiotensin II in inducing myocardial necrosis was postulated in dialysis patients but these cardiac events all occurred during or shortly after procedures, such as sodium-depleting dialysis, renal artery surgery, or diazoxide administration, which are known to cause an increase in plasma concentrations of renin and angiotensin II[71]. Experimental data also suggest that elevated levels of
Aldosterone
Aldosterone, apart from the retention of sodium, loss of potassium, and sympathetic activation, causes baroreceptor dysfunction, impaired arterial compliance, myocardial and vascular brosis[73]. There are synergistic eects of angiotensin II and aldosterone with regards to perivascular and interstitial brosis of the ventricle, but an angiotensin-independent eect of aldosterone on myocardial brosis in hypertension has been demonstrated in various animal models, as well as the protective eect of spironolactone[74]. Aldosterone, therefore, plays an important role in the pathophysiology of left ventricular hypertrophy. Aldosterone may be involved in the transition from compensated to decompensated left ventricular hypertrophy. Initially, the increase of interstitial and perivascular brosis enhances the likelihood of diastolic dysfunction and signs/symptoms of heart failure. Cardiomyocyte loss, which can be induced by chronic aldosterone administration, may further accelerate this maladaptive process[75]. The recent RALES (Randomized Aldactone Evaluation) Study further supports a role of aldosterone in heart failure which may be independent of renin and angiotensin, as the blockade of aldosterone receptors by spironolactone, in addition to standard therapy (including ACE inhibitors), substantially reduced the risk of both mortality and morbidity in patients with severe heart failure[76]. Whilst the trial data suggest an additional benet of aldosterone antagonists when given in combination with ACE inhibitors in heart failure, aldosterone plays an important part in myocardial brosis associated with hypertension and possibly in the transition from left ventricular hypertrophy to cardiac failure. Theoretically, therefore, aldosterone antagonists may oer additional benets to ACE inhibition in the treatment/prevention of left ventricular hypertrophy and hypertensive heart disease. In patients with Conns syndrome, where there is a chronic excess of aldosterone, the ratio of ischaemic heart disease is similar to cerebrovascular disease; nevertheless in this age group ischaemic heart disease should be 24 times commoner than stroke, suggesting either an excess of cerebrovascular disease or a reduction in the incidence of ischaemic heart disease in Conns syndrome[77]. It is therefore possible that some adverse eects of aldosterone on the heart require an excess of angiotensin II levels, which are clearly suppressed in Conns syndrome.
Catecholamines
The sympathetic activation present in hypertension contributes to the rise in blood pressure, but also seems to
Eur Heart J, Vol. 21, issue 20, October 2000
1658
G. Y. H. Lip et al. Drugs which worsen insulin resistance, such as thiazides, lower blood pressure and prevent more heart attacks than other antihypertensive agents, but appear less eective at left ventricular hypertrophy regression. Other agents, which improve insulin resistance, such as the biguanides, do not lower blood pressure and barely prevent cardiovascular problems in non-insulin diabetics[96]. Diabetic cardiomyopathy probably represents a cardiac disorder with involvement of myocardial, interstitial, coronary and neural structures and it is postulated that it is due to underlying small vessel or microvascular disease with reduced coronary ow reserve[97].
have adverse metabolic eects, such as insulin resistance, hyperinsulinaemia and hyperlipidaemia[78,79]. There have been animal studies suggesting that sympathetic inuences may exert cardiotrophic eects, thus favouring the development of myocardial hypertrophy[80]. Similar results on the sympathetic nervous system activity facilitating the development of left ventricular hypertrophy in essential hypertension in man have been observed[81]. Not surprisingly, patients with phaeochromocytoma frequently have left ventricular hypertrophy, and congestive heart failure is often one of the rst presenting clinical symptoms. Antihypertensive agents that stimulate the sympathetic nervous system, such as direct vasodilators (hydralazine and minoxidil) also fail to reduce left ventricular hypertrophy despite their well-documented antihypertensive eect[82]. If a relationship between hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy and sympathetic activation is postulated, this raises the possibility that heart failure may be part of this syndrome, especially since neuroendocrine activation is found in heart failure, with activation of the reninangiotensinaldosterone and the sympathetic system. Indeed sympathetic activation is well-recognised to be associated with the severity of heart failure and prognosis[83].
Other hormones
Both atrial and brain natriuretic peptides are raised in the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy. In particular, brain natriuretic peptide appears to be a better index of left ventricular hypertrophy than atrial natriuretic peptide for the detection of altered left ventricular structure and function in a patient population at risk for cardiovascular disease[98]. It has also been postulated that left ventricular hypertrophy associated with insulin resistance and a hyperinsulinaemic state is associated with the presence of insulin-like growth factor-I receptors, implicating the role of growth hormones[92]. The role of the vasoconstrictor endothelin in the pathogenesis of left ventricular hypertrophy and its interaction with the reninangiotensin system and atrial natriuretic peptide still remains to be elucidated[99]. Recently, there has been some interest in myocardial osteopontin, which is thought to contribute to the angiotensin II-induced remodelling process in cultured cardiomyocytes. Human myocardium with extensive brosis and cardiomyocyte hypertrophy obtained from explanted hearts was found to contain high immunoreactivity for osteopontin, suggesting induction of osteopontin expression is strongly associated with left ventricular hypertrophy[100]. Laviades and coworkers[101] recently found that systemic extracellular degradation of collagen type I (as indicated by the measurement of metalloproteinses and tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinasess) is abnormal in patients with essential hypertension. The abnormal collagen proteolytic activities were normalized after 1 year of treatment with an ACE inhibitor, lisinopril[101]. Whilst more data are needed, these abnormalities may perhaps facilitate organ brosis in hypertensive patients, namely those with left ventricular hypertrophy. Finally, other studies have shown a correlation between left ventricular hypertrophy and parathyroid hormones and between left ventricular hypertrophy and growth hormone[102,103]. These ndings clearly attest to the role of various hormonal systems and the multifactorial pathogenesis of left ventricular hypertrophy and in particular, the hypertensive heart disease syndrome.
Sodium
Left ventricular mass is inuenced by dietary salt ingestion. Studies in hypertensive rats have demonstrated left ventricular hypertrophy following high dietary salt intake[84]. This correlation has been conrmed in several trials with hypertensive patients[8587]. Data from the TOHMS study also clearly indicate a blood pressure independent eect of sodium restriction on left ventricular mass regression[88]. Possible underlying mechanisms for the relationship between salt and left ventricular hypertrophy include: (i) salt-induced volume overload; (ii) increased sensitivity of cardiovascular system to noradrenaline; and (iii) angiotensin II[89].
Insulin resistance
Hypertension is commonly associated with the insulin resistance syndrome and diabetes. Indeed, insulin resistance has been identied as a blood pressure-independent determinant of left ventricular hypertrophy[9092]. Hypertensive patients with glucose intolerance also have a higher degree of left ventricular hypertrophy and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction than those with normal glucose tolerance[93,94]. For example, diabetes is found in 5% to 25% of hypertensives, especially in African origin[95]. This combination substantially increases overall cardiovascular risk in hypertensive patients, and diabetes is also commonly associated with atrial brillation, coronary artery disease and heart failure. However, the relationship between insulin resistance and hypertensive heart disease has some inconsistencies.
Eur Heart J, Vol. 21, issue 20, October 2000
Review
1659
ACE genes
As illustrated above, the reninangiotensinaldosterone plays an essential part in the pathophysiology of left ventricular hypertrophy. ACE is responsible for the generation of angiotensin II, which is closely related to left ventricular mass. Indeed the insertion/deletion polymorphism of the ACE gene has been shown to account for up to 50% of the variance in the plasma ACE concentration[104,105]. Not surprisingly, there is also a close relationship between left ventricular hypertrophy and a deletion polymorphism of the ACE gene. For example, the DD genotype, which increases plasma ACE activity, is associated with the development of left ventricular hypertrophy[106]. In hypertensive patients without any additional risk factors, the risk of left ventricular hypertrophy increased 38-fold with homozygosity for the D allele of the ACE gene[107]. Another study showed increased left ventricular mass in hypertensive males with non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, indicating that the ACE gene polymorphism is crucial in the pathophysiology of left ventricular hypertrophy[108].
thrombotic rather than haemorrhagic. In addition, patients with hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy have higher plasma brinogen levels, when compared to those without left ventricular hypertrophy[112]. Nevertheless, the processes of thrombogenesis and atherogenesis are intimately related. Many patients with atherosclerotic vascular disease demonstrate similar abnormalities, where they may have independent prognostic implications. For example, in patients with hypertension, some markers such as prothrombin fragment F1+2[113] and von Willebrand factor[114] are associated with subsequent adverse cardiovascular outcomes.
Thyroid disease
Thyroid disease causes signicant changes in the cardiovascular system, particularly the heart. Thyroid hormones interrelate with the sympathetic nervous system by modifying the sensitivity to sympathetic stimuli. There is now also increasing evidence of direct eects of thyroid hormones on the myocardium, causing an increase of protein synthesis. Therefore, the association of hyperthyroidism with left ventricular hypertrophy may be related to either thyroxin-induced increase of cardiac workload or to direct thyroid hormone-induced stimulation of the myocardial cells[109].
Microproteinuria
Microalbuminuria, a subclinical increase in urinary protein excretion, is established as an indicator of target organ damage in hypertension. Recent studies have shown a positive correlation between urinary albumin excretion and thickness of the left ventricular wall, which was independent of blood pressure[110].
Hypercoagulability
There is increasing evidence that patients with hypertension demonstrate abnormalities of haemostasis, platelets and endothelial function, in keeping with a hypercoagulable or prothrombotic state[111]. This may explain why despite the blood vessels being exposed to high pressures, the complications associated with hypertension (heart attacks, stroke) are paradoxically mainly
1660
G. Y. H. Lip et al. left ventricular hypertrophy[137,138]. This is of signicance as the transition from sinus rhythm to atrial brillation in a patient with left ventricular hypertrophy and diastolic dysfunction may result in loss of stroke volume and heart failure consequent upon the loss of atrial transport. Furthermore, the presence of atrial brillation and hypertension are additive to the risks of stroke and thromboembolism. Left atrial dilatation also occurs in association with left ventricular hypertrophy, which may predispose to atrial brillation. Finally, alcohol also contributes to both hypertension and atrial brillation.
hypertrophy is also associated with impaired coronary reserve even in the absence of epicardial coronary disease. Underlying causes of impaired coronary reserve include arteriolar rarefaction, medial wall thickening of arterioles, perivascular brosis, endothelial dysfunction, and myocyte hypertrophy[127]. The presence of underlying cardiac ischaemia may also explain the increased incidence of atrial brillation, ventricular arrhythmias, myocardial infarction and sudden cardiac death, which have otherwise been simply attributed to hypertensive heart disease.
Heart failure
Hypertension, according to Framingham data, is the commonest cause of heart failure. In recent communityand hospital-based studies, however, coronary artery disease was the number one cause of heart failure in Western countries and indeed the importance of hypertension as an underlying cause has been declining[139]. Hypertension still increases the risk of heart failure fourto eight-fold when associated with ECG dened-left ventricular hypertrophy[140], but many of these patients may have underlying coronary heart disease, which may be asymptomatic. The presence of cardiomegaly, as dened by the chest X-ray in hypertensive patients (usually related to left ventricular hypertrophy), also signicantly increases the risk of heart failure[140]. However, it is often dicult to dissect out the unique inuence of hypertension on the myocardium and cardiac function per se in the absence of age, as well as accompanying obesity, coronary disease and diabetes. Hypertension may lead to heart failure due to systolic dysfunction, in association with underlying coronary heart disease and heart attacks, but in hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy, heart failure due to diastolic dysfunction may also occur. The latter is related to delayed ventricular relaxation and impaired lling, associated with the ultrastructural changes of left ventricular hypertrophy[141]. Indeed the normal concentration of brillar collagen in the myocardium is an important determinant of its stiness[142]. A two- to threefold increase in collagen concentration is associated with an increase in diastolic stiness, whilst resting systolic stiness and ejection fraction are preserved[143,144]. A further rise in myocardial collagen raises the diastolic stiness even further, eventually leading to systolic dysfunction[145]. left ventricular hypertrophy is also associated with an impaired coronary reserve, which may lead to myocardial ischaemia, even in the absence of epicardial coronary artery disease, leading to impaired left ventricle relaxation[127]. However, diastolic dysfunction is also commonly associated with coronary artery disease, valve disease and increasing age. Therefore the development of heart failure in hypertension is less likely to be related to hypertensive heart disease per se in many patients,
Review especially in elderly hypertensives with underlying coronary artery disease. It should be noted that whilst well-trained athletes develop physiological left ventricular hypertrophy, the parameters of diastolic and systolic function are be within normal range[146].
1661
outcome trials comparing dierent antihypertensive treatment regimes investigating the possible prognostic implications of left ventricular hypertrophy regression[154158]. In the absence of major end-point data, it is necessary to consider surrogate end-points that may indicate a benet to patients in terms of regression of left ventricular hypertrophy. For example, there is now evidence that systolic ventricular function is maintained and diastolic ventricular function, both at rest and during exercise, improves with regression of left ventricular hypertrophy[159161]. Furthermore, Iriarte et al.[162] found that regression of left ventricular mass through antihypertensive treatment with enalapril appeared to reduce microvascular ischaemia and the subsequent development of angina pectoris, with associated improvement in exercise tolerance. Finally, there is also good experimental animal evidence that treatment (with ACE inhibitors) causes a parallel regression both in myocytes and in brous tissues[163].
Conclusion
Hypertensive heart disease is probably part of a (very) wide syndrome that includes underlying left ventricular hypertrophy, coronary artery disease, neuroendocrine activation and possibly the insulin resistance syndrome. Many of the features associated with hypertensive heart disease, such as heart failure, may be explained by activation of the reninangiotensinaldosterone system, catecholamine excess, diastolic dysfunction and coronary artery disease. The combination of the variety of underlying mechanisms in hypertension results in cardiac abnormalities, which are comparable to those seen in other pathophysiological circumstances. Nonetheless, distinctive dissimilarities in hypertension, particularly when comparing with aortic stenosis, require a dierentiation as a separate entity, which can perhaps be referred to as a hypertensive cardiomyopathy.
Dr Li-Saw-Hee is supported by a non-promotional project grant from Merck Sharpe and Dohme. We acknowledge the support of the City Hospital NHS Trust Research & Development Programme.
References
[1] Kannel WB. Blood pressure as a cardiovascular risk factor. Prevention and treatment. JAMA 1996; 275: 15716. [2] Levy D, Garrison RJ, Savage DD, Kannel WB, Castelli WP. Prognostic implications of echocardiographically determined left ventricular mass in the Framingham Heart Study. N Engl J Med 1990; 322: 15616. [3] de Simone G, Devereux RB, Roman MJ, Schlussel Y, Alderman MH, Laragh JH. Echocardiographic LV mass and electrolyte intake predict arterial hypertension. Ann Intern Med 1991; 114: 2029. [4] Post WS, Larson MG, Levy D. Impact of left ventricular structure on the incidence of hypertension. The Framingham Heart Study. Circulation 1994; 90: 17985. Eur Heart J, Vol. 21, issue 20, October 2000
1662
G. Y. H. Lip et al.
[5] Messerli FH, Grodzicki T. Hypertension, left ventricular hypertrophy, ventricular arrhythmias and sudden death. Eur Heart J 1992; 13 (Suppl D): 669. [6] McLenachan JM, Henderson E, Morris KI, Dargie HJ. Ventricular arrhythmias in patients with hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy. N Engl J Med 1987; 317: 78792. [7] Ghali JK, Kadakia S, Cooper RS, Liao YL. Impact of left ventricular hypertrophy on ventricular arrhythmias in the absence of coronary artery disease. J Am Coll Cardiol 1991; 17: 127782. [8] Verdecchia P, Schillaci G, Borgioni C et al. Prognostic value of left ventricular mass and geometry in systemic hypertension with left ventricular hypertrophy. Am J Cardiol 1996; 78: 197202. [9] Kannel WB, Cobb J. Left ventricular hypertrophy and mortality: the results from the Framingham Study. Cardiology 1992; 81: 2918. [10] Devereux RB, Roman MJ, Ganau A, de Simone G, Okin PM, Kligeld P. Cardiac and arterial hypertrophy and atherosclerosis in hypertension. Hypertension 1994; 23 (part 1): 8029. [11] Krumholz HM, Larson M, Levy D. Prognosis of left ventricular geometric patterns in the Framingham Heart Study. J Am Coll Cardiol 1995; 25: 87984. [12] Kannel WB. Prognostic implications of electrocardiographically determined left ventricular mass in the Framingham Study. Am J Cardiol 1996; 60: 8693. [13] Lip GYH, Beevers M, Beevers DG. Complications and survival of 315 patients with malignant-phase hypertension. J Hypertens 1995; 13: 91524. [14] Krumholz HM, Larson M, Levy D. Sex dierences in cardiac adaptation to isolated systolic hypertension. Am J Cardiol 1993; 72: 3103. [15] Messerli FH, Sundgaard-Riise K, Ventura HO, Dunn FG, Oigman W, Frohlich ED. Clinical and haemodynamic determinants of left ventricular dimensions. Arch Intern Med 1984; 144: 47781. [16] Drayer JM, Weber MA, De Young JL. Blood pressure as a determinant of cardiac left ventricular mass. Arch Intern Med 1983; 143: 902. [17] Prisant LM, Carr AA. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring and echocardiographic left ventricular wall thickness and mass. Am J Hypertens 1990; 3: 819. [18] Straessen JA, Bieniaszewski L, OBrien E et al. Nocturnal blood pressure fall on ambulatory monitoring in a large international database. Hypertension 1997; 29: 309. [19] Zakopoulos N, Stamatelopoulos S, Toumanidis S, Saridakis N, Trika C, Moulopoulos S. 24 h blood pressure prole aects the left ventricle independently of the pressure level. Am J Hypertens 1997; 10: 16874. [20] Verdecchia P. Left ventricular mass in dippers and nondippers. J Hypertens 1995; 13: 14812. [21] Fagard R, Staessen JA, Thijs L. The relationships between left ventricular mass and day-time and night-time blood pressures: a meta-analysis of comparative studies. J Hypertens 1995; 13: 8239. [22] Floras JS. Antihypertensive treatment, myocardial infarction, and nocturnal myocardial ischaemia. Lancet 1988; 2: 9946. [23] Kario K, Matsuo T, Kobayashi H, Imiya M, Matsuo M, Shimada K. Nocturnal fall of blood pressure and silent cerebrovascular damage in elderly hypertensive patients. Advanced silent cerebrovascular damage in extreme dippers. Hypertension 1996; 27: 1305. [24] Hansson L, Zanchetti A, Carruthers SG et al. Eects of intensive blood-pressure lowering and low-dose aspirin in patients with hypertension: principal results of the Hypertension Optimal Treatment (HOT) randomised trial. HOT Study Group. Lancet 1998; 351: 175562. [25] Messerli FH, Ketelhut R. Left ventricular hypertrophy an independent risk factor. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 1991; 17 (Suppl 4): S59S67. Eur Heart J, Vol. 21, issue 20, October 2000
[26] Frohlich ED, Tarazi RC, Dustan ED. Clinical-physiological correlations in the development of hypertensive heart disease. Circulation 1971; 44: 46455. [27] Grohe C, Kahlert S, Lobbert K et al. Modulation of hypertensive heart disease by estrogen. Steroids 1996; 61: 2014. [28] Bonadure D, Rotondi F, Capozzi E et al. Myocardial hypertrophy and left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in hypertensive patients: an echo Doppler evaluation. Eur Heart J 1989; 10: 61121. [29] Simek CL, Fledman MD, Haber HL, Wu CC, Jayaweera AR, Kaul S. Relationship between left ventricular wall thickness and left atrial size: comparison with other measures of diastolic function. J Am Soc Echocardiogr 1993; 8: 31825. [30] Dernellis JM, Vyssoulis GP, Zacharoulis AA, Toutouzas PK. Eects of antihypertensive therapy on left atrial function. J Hum Hypertns 1996; 10: 78994. [31] Devereux RB, Reichek N. Echocardiographic determination of left ventricular mass in man: anatomic validation of the method. Circulation 1977; 55: 6138. [32] Jones RS. The weight of the heart and its chambers in hypertensive cardiovascular disease with and without failure. Circulation 1953; 7: 35769. [33] Savage D, Garrison RJ, Kannel WB. The spectrum of left ventricular hypertrophy in a general population sample: the Framingham study. Circulation 1987; 75 (Suppl I): I-2633. [34] Devereux RB, Lutas EM, Casale PN. Standardization of M-mode echocardiographic left ventricular anatomic measurements. J Am Coll Cardiol 1984; 4: 122230. [35] de Simone G, Devereux RB, Daniels SR, Koren MJ, Meyer RA, Laragh JH. Eect of growth on variability of left ventricular mass: assessment of allometric signals in adults and children and their capacity to predict cardiovascular risk. J Am Coll Cardiol 1995; 25: 105662. [36] Liao Y, Cooper RS, Durazo-Arvizu R, Mensah GA, Ghali KJ. Prediction of mortality by dierent methods of indexation for left ventricular mass. J Am Coll Cardiol 1997; 29: 6417. [37] Germain P, Roul G, Kastler B, Mossard JM, Bareiss P, Sacrez A. Inter-study variability in left ventricular mass measurements. Comparison between M-mode echocardiography and MRI. Eur Heart J 1992; 13: 10119. [38] Allison JD, Flickinger FW, Wright JC et al. Measurement of left ventricular mass in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy using MRI: comparison with echocardiography. Magn Reson Imaging 1993; 11: 32934. [39] Cabezas M, Combellas A, Ramon Gomez J et al. Comparison of the sensitivity and specicity of the electrocardiography criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy according to the methods of Romhilt-Estes, Sokolow-Lyon, Cornell and Rodrigez Padial. Rev Esp Cardiol 1997; 50: 315. [40] Schillaci G, Verdecchia P, Borgioni C et al. Improved electrocardiographic diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy. Am J Cardiol 1994; 74: 7149. [41] Kannel WB. Left ventricular hypertrophy as a risk factor: The Framingham experience. J Hypertens 1991; 9 (Suppl 2): S3S9. [42] Huwez FU, Pringle SD, Macfarlane PW. Variable patterns of ST-T abnormalities in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy and normal coronary arteries. Br Heart J 1992; 67: 3047. [43] Morgan HE, Baker KM. Cardiac hypertrophy. Mechanical, neural and endocrine dependence. Circulation 1991; 83: 1325. [44] Kent RL, Mann DL, Cooper G. Signals for cardiac muscle hypertrophy in hypertension. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 1991; 17 (Suppl 2): S7S13. [45] Weber KT, Brilla CG, Campbell SE, Zhou G, Matsubara L, Guarda E.. Pathophysiological hypertrophy with brosis: the structural basis for myocardial failure. Blood Pressure 1992; 1: 7585.
Review
1663
[46] Anversa P, Palackal T, Sonnenblick EH, Olivetti G, Capasso JM. Hypertensive cardiomyopathy. Myocyte nuclei hyperplasia in the mammalian rat heart. J Clin Invest 1990; 85: 9947. [47] Campbell SE, Janicki JS, Matsubara BB, Weber KT. Myocardial brosis in rat with mineralocorticoid excess. Prevention of scarring by amiloride. Am J Hypertens 1993; 6 (pt 1): 48795. [48] Schwartzkop B, Frentzel H, Dieckerho J et al. Morphometric investigation of human myocardium in arterial hypertension and valvular aortic stenosis. Eur Heart J 1992; 13 (Suppl D): 1723. [49] Sen S, Bumpus FM. Collagen synthesis in development and reversal of cardiac hypertrophy in spontaneously hypertensive rats. Am J Cardiol 1979; 44: 9548. [50] Teiger E, Dam TV, Richard L et al. Apoptosis in pressureoverload-induced heart hypertrophy in the rat. J Clin Invest 1996; 97: 28917. [51] Liu P, Sole MJ. What is the relevance of apoptosis to the myocardium? Can J Cardiol 1999; 15 (Suppl B): 8B10B. [52] Seraste A, Pulkki K, Kallajoki M et al. Cardiomyocyte apoptosis and progression of heart failure to transplantation. Eur J Clin Invest 1999; 29: 36971. [53] Li Z, Bing OH, Long X, Robinson KG, Lakatta EG. Increased cardiomyocyte apoptosis during the transition to heart failure in the spontaneous hypertensive rat. Am J Physiol 1997; 272: H23139. [54] Krayenbuehl HP, Hess OM, Monrad ES, Schnelder J, Mall G, Turina M. Left ventricular myocardial structure in aortic valve disease before, intermediate, and late after aortic valve replacement. Circulation 1989; 79: 74455. [55] Weber KT, Sun Y, Guarda E. Structural remodelling in hypertensive heart disease and the roles of hormones. Hypertension 1994; 23 (part 2): 86977. [56] Friedrich SP, Lorell BH, Rousseau MF et al. Intracardiac angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition improves diastolic function in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy due to aortic stenosis. Circulation 1994; 90: 276171. [57] Anversa P, Ricci R, Olivetti G. Quantitative structural analysis of the myocardium during physiological growth and induced cardiac hypertrophy: a review. J Am Coll Cardiol 1986; 7: 11409. [58] Brilla CG, Pick R, Tan LB, Janicki JS, Weber KT. Remodelling of the rat right and left ventricle in experimental hypertension. Circ Res 1990; 76: 135564. [59] Frohlich ED, Apstein C, Chobanian AV et al. The heart in hypertension. N Engl J Med 1992; 327: 9981008. [60] Simpson TE, Dansky HM, Buttrick PM. Molecular genetic mechanisms of cardiac hypertrophy. Cardiovasc Risk Factors 1995; 5: 93108. [61] Sun Y, Weber KT. Angiotensin II and aldosterone receptor binding: response to chronic angiotensin II or aldosterone administration. J Lab Clin Med 1993; 122: 40411. [62] Sun Y, Weber KT. Cells expressing angiotensin II receptors in brous tissue of rat heart. Cardiovasc Res 1996; 31: 51825. [63] Tedesco MA, Ratti G, Aquino D et al. Eects of losartan on hypertension and left ventricular mass: a long-term study. J Hum Hypertens 1998; 12: 50510. [64] Gottdiener JS, Thurmann PA, Kenedi P, Schmidt A, Harder S, Rietbrock N. Inuence of the angiotensin II antagonist valsartan on left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with essential hypertension. Circulation 1999; 100: 6858. [65] Dzau VJ. Implications of local angiotensin production in cardiovascular physiology and pharmacology. Am J Cardiol 1987; 59: 59A65A. [66] Pitt B. Regression of left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with hypertension: blockade of the renin-angiotensinaldosterone system. Circulation 1998; 98: 19879. [67] Pfeer MA, Pfeer JM, Frohlich ED. Pumping ability of the hypertrophying left ventricle of the spontaneously hypertensive rats. Circ Res 1976; 38: 4239.
[68] Harrap SB, Dominiczak AF, Fraser R et al. Plasma angiotensin II, predisposition to hypertension, and left ventricular size in healthy young adults. Circulation 1996; 93: 114854. [69] Schmieder RE, Langeneld MRW, Friedrich A, Schobel HP, Gatzka CD, Weihprecht H. Angiotensin II related to sodium excretion modulates left ventricular structure in human essential hypertension. Circulation 1996; 94: 13049. [70] Pickering TG, Herman L, Devereux RB et al. Recurrent pulmonary oedema in hypertension due to bilateral renal artery stenosis: treatment by angioplasty or surgical revascularisation. Lancet 1988; 2: 5512. [71] Gavras H, Kremer D, Brown JJ et al. Angiotensin- and norepinephrine-induced myocardial lesions: experimental and clinical studies in rabbit and man. Am Heart J 1975; 89: 32132. [72] Gavras H, Brown JJ, Lever AF, MacAdam RF, Robertson JIS. Acute renal failure, tubular necrosis, and myocardial infarction induced in the rabbit by intravenous angiotensin. Lancet 1971; ii: 1922. [73] MacFadyen RJ, Barr CS, Struthers AD. Aldosterone blockade reduces vascular collagen turnover, improves heart rate variability and reduces early morning rise in heart rate in heart failure patients. Cardiovasc Res 1997; 35: 304. [74] Brilla CG, Matsubara LS, Weber KT. Antibrotic eects of spironolactone in preventing myocardial brosis in systemic hypertension. Am J Cardiol 1993; 71: 12A16A. [75] Weber KT, Brilla CG. Pathophysiological hypertrophy and cardiac interstitium: brosis and renin-angiotensinaldosterone system. Circulation 1991; 83: 184965. [76] Pitt B, Zannad F, Reme WJ et al. The eect of Spironolactone on morbidity and mortality in patients with severe heart failure. N Engl J Med 1999; 341: 70917. [77] Beevers DG, Brown JJ, Ferris JB et al. Renal abnormalities and vascular complications in primary hyperaldosteronism. Evidence on tertiary hyperaldosteronism. QJM 1976; 179: 40110. [78] Julius S, Gundrandsson T, Jamerson K, Anderson O. The interconnection between sympathetics, microcirculation and insulin resistance in hypertension. Blood Pressure 1992; 1: 919. [79] Mackintosh VS, Phan CT, Mortimer BK, Redgrave TG. Vasoactive mediators aect the clearance of lipids from emulsion models of plasma lipoproteins in rats. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 1996; 27: 44754. [80] Tarazi RC, Sen S, Saragoca M, Khairallah P. The multifactorial role of catecholamines in hypertensive cardiac hypertrophy. Eur Heart J 1982; 3 (Suppl A): 10310. [81] Kelm M, Schafer S, Mingers S, Heydthausen M, Vogt M, Motz W. Left ventricular mass is linked to cardiac norpinephrine in normotensive and hypertensive patients. J Hypertens 1996; 14: 135764. [82] Cruickshank JM, Lewis J, Moore V, Dodd V. Reversibility of left ventricular hypertrophy by diering types of antihypertensive therapy. J Hum Hypertens 1992; 6: 8590. [83] Francis GS, Cohn JN, Johnson G, Rector TS, Goldman S, Simon A. Plasma norepinephrine, plasma renin activity, and congestive heart failure: relations to survival and the eects of therapy in V-HeFT II. Circulation 1993; 87: 1408. [84] Frohlich ED, Chien Y, Sesoko S, Pegram BL. Relationship between sodium intake, haemodynamics, and cardiac mass in SHR and WKY rats. Am J Physiol 1993; 15 (Suppl. 2): I15760. [85] Daniels SD, Meyer RA, Loggie JMH. Determinants of cardiac involvement in children and adolescents with essential hypertension. Circulation 1990; 82: 12438. [86] Schmieder RE, Messerli FH, Gravaglia GE, Nunez BD. Dietary salt intake. A determinant of cardiac involvement in essential hypertension. Circulation 1988; 78: 9516. [87] Schmieder RE Grude E, Impelmann V. Determinants of myocardial hypertrophy in mild essential hypertension. Impact of dietary salt intake on left ventricular hypertrophy. Zeitschr f. Kardiol 1990; 79: 55764. Eur Heart J, Vol. 21, issue 20, October 2000
1664
G. Y. H. Lip et al.
[88] Liebson P, Grandits GA, Primeas et al. Comparison of ve antihypertension monotherapies and placebo for change in left ventricular mass in patients receiving nutritional-hygenic therapy in the Treatment of Mild Hypertension Study (TOHMS). Circulation 1992 (Suppl I); 86: 599. [89] Langenfeld MRW, Schmieder RE. Salt and LV: what are the links? J Human Hypertens 1995; 9: 90916. [90] Watanabe K, Sekiya M, Tsuruoka T, Funada J, Kameoka H. Eect of insulin resistance on left ventricular hypertrophy and dysfunction in essential hypertension. J Hypertens 1999; 17: 115360. [91] Lind L, Anderson PE, Andren B, Hanni A, Lithel HO. Left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertension is associated with insulin resistance metabolic syndrome. J Hypertens 1995; 13: 4338. [92] Sasson Z, Rasoolyr Y, Bhesania T, Rasooly I. Insulin resistance is an important determinant of left ventricular mass in the obese. Circulation 1993; 88: 14316. [93] Nakamura NH, Kohara K, Suminto T, Lin M, Hiwada K. Glucose intolerance exaggerates left ventricular hypertrophy and dysfunction in essential hypertension. Am J Hypertens 1994; 7: 11104. [94] Jain A, Avendano G, Dharamsey S, Dasmahaparta A, Agarwal R, Reddi A. Left ventricular diastolic function in hypertension and role of plasma glucose and insulin: comparison with diabetic heart. Circulation 1996; 93: 1396402. [95] Pacy PJ, Dodson PM, Beevers M, Fletcher RF, Taylor KG. Prevalence of hypertension in White, Black and Asian diabetics in a district hospital diabetic clinic. Diabetic Med 1985; 2: 12530. [96] UKPDS Group. Eect of intensive blood-glucose control with metformin on complications in overweight patients with type 2 diabetes (UKPDS 34). UK Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS) Group. Lancet 1998; 352: 85465. [97] Strauer BE, Motz W, Vogt M, Schwartzkop B. Impaired coronary ow reserve in NIDDM: a possible role for diabetic cardiopathy in humans. Diabetes 1997; 46 (Suppl 2): S11924. [98] Yamamoto K, Burnett JC Jr, Jougasaki M et al. Superiority of brain peptide as a hormonal marker of ventricular systolic and diastolic dysfunction and ventricular hypertrophy. Hypertension 1996; 28: 98894. [99] Stula M, Pinto YM, Gschwend S et al. Interaction of the renin-angiotensin system and the endothelin system in cardiac hypertrophy. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 1998; 31 (Suppl 1): S403405. [100] Graf K, Do YS, Ashizawa N et al. Myocardial osteopontin expression is associated with left ventricular hypertrophy. Circulation 1997; 96: 306371. [101] Laviades C, Varo N, Fernandez J et al. Abnormalities of the extracellular degradation of collagen type I in essential hypertension. Circulation 1998; 98: 53540. [102] Stefenelli T, Abela C, Frank H, Koller-Strametz J, BerglerKlein J, Niederle B. Cardiac abnormalities in patients with primary hyperparathyroidism: implications for follow-up. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1997; 82: 10612. [103] Fazio S, Cittadini A, Cuocolo A et al. Impaired cardiac performance is a distinct feature of uncomplicated acromegaly. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1994; 79: 4416. [104] Rigat B, Hubert C, Alhenc-Gelas F, Cambien F, Corval P, Soubrier F. An insertion/deletion polymorphism in the angiotensin 1-converting enzyme gene accounting for half the variance of serum enzyme levels. J Clin Invest 1990; 86: 13436. [105] Tirte L, Rigat B, Visvikis S, Brenda C, Corvol P, Cambien F. Evidence from combined segregation and linkage analysis, that a variant of the angiotensin I-converting enzyme (ACE) gene controls plasma ACE levels. Am J Hum Genet 1992; 51: 197205. [106] Prasad N, OKane KPJ, Johnstone HA et al. The relationship between blood pressure and left ventricular mass in essential hypertension is observed only in the presence of the angiotensin-converting enzyme gene deletion allele. QJM 1994; 87: 65962. Eur Heart J, Vol. 21, issue 20, October 2000
[107] Celentano A, Mancini FP, Crivaro M et al. Cardiovascular risk factors, angiotensin-converting enzyme gene I/D polymorphism, and left ventricular mass in systemic hypertension. Am J Cardiol 1999; 83: 1196200. [108] Estacio RO, Jeers BW, Havranek EP, Krick D, Raynolds M, Schrier RW. Deletion of the angiotensin converting enzyme gene is associated with an increase in left ventricular mass in men with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Am J Hypertens 1999; 12: 63742. [109] Polikar R, Burger AG, Scherrer U, Nicod P. The thyroid and the heart. Circulation 1993; 87: 143541. [110] Taskiran M, Feldt-Rasmussen B, Jensen GB, Jensen JS. Urinary albumin excretion in hospitalized patients with acute myocardial infarction. Prevalence of microalbuminuria and correlation to left ventricle wall thickness. Scand Cardiovasc J 1998; 32: 1636. [111] Lip GYH, Li-Saw-Hee FL. Does hypertension confer a hypercoagulable state? J Hypertens 1998; 16: 9136. [112] Lip GYH, Blann AD, Jones AF, Lip PL, Beevers DG. Relation of endothelium, thrombogenesis, and haemorheology in systemic hypertension to ethnicity and left ventricular hypertrophy. Am J Cardiol 1997; 80: 156671. [113] Agewell S, Wikstrand J, Fagerberg B. Prothrombin fragment 1+2 is a risk factor for myocardial infarction in treated hypertensive men. J Hypertens 1998; 16: 53741. [114] Blann AD, Waite MA. von Willebrand factor and soluble E-selectin in hypertension: inuence of treatment and value in predicting the progression of atherosclerosis. Cor Art Dis 1995; 7: 1437. [115] McInnes GT. Hypertension and coronary artery disease: cause and eect. J Hypertens 1996; 13 (Suppl 2): S49S56. [116] Guazzi M. Left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertension, coronary micro- and macrovascular disease, and myocardial ischaemia. Cardiovasc Risk Factors 1995; 5: 1339. [117] Nitenberg A, Antony I. Epicardial coronary arteries are not adequately sized in hypertensive patients. J Am Coll Cardiol 1996; 27: 11523. [118] Egashira K, Suzuki S, Hirooka Y et al. Impaired endothelium-dependent vasodilation of large epicardial and resistance coronary arteries in patients with essential hypertension. Dierent responses to acetylcholine and substance P. Hypertension 1995; 25: 2016. [119] Okin PM, Roman MJ, Devereux RB, Kligeld P. Association of carotid atherosclerosis with electrocardiographic myocardial ischaemia and left ventricular hypertrophy. Hypertension 1996a; 28: 37. [120] Bikkina M, Levy D, Evans JC et al. Left ventricular mass and risk of stroke in an elderly cohort. The Framingham Heart Study. JAMA 1994; 272: 336. [121] Meyers DG, Bendon KA, Hankins JH, Stratbucker RA. The eect of baseline electrocardiographic abnormalities on the diagnostic accuracy of exercise induced ST segment changes. Am J Heart 1990; 119: 2726. [122] Toumanidis ST, Pantelia MI, Trika CO et al. Detection of coronary artery disease in the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy. Int J Cardiol 1996; 57: 24555. [123] Pringle SD, Macfarlane PW, McKillop JH, Lorimer AR, Dunn FG. Pathophysiologic assessment of left ventricular hypertrophy and strain in asymptomatic patients with essential hypertension. J Am Coll Cardiol 1989; 13: 137781. [124] Brush JE, Cannon RO, Shenke WH et al. Angina due to coronary microvascular disease in hypertensive patients without left ventricular hypertrophy. N Engl J Med 1988; 319: 13027. [125] Marcus ML, Mueller TM, Gascho JA, Kerber RE. Eects of cardiac hypertrophy secondary to hypertension on the coronary circulation. Am J Cardiol 1979; 44: 10238. [126] Mueller TM, Marcus ML, Kerber RE, Young JA, Barnes RW, Abboud FM. Eect of renal hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy on the coronary circulation in dogs. Circ Res 1978; 42: 5439.
Review
1665
[127] Vogt M, Motz WH, Schwartzkopf B, Strauer BE. Pathophysiology and clinical aspects of hypertensive hypertrophy. Eur Heart J 1993; 14 (Suppl 7): 827. [128] Vriz O, Piccolo D, Cozzutti E et al. The eects of alcohol consumption on ambulatory blood pressure and target organs in subjects with borderline to mild hypertension. HARVEST Study Group. Am J Hypertens 1998; 11: 2304. [129] Curtis AB, James SA, Strogartz DS, Raghunathan TE, Harlow S. Alcohol consumption and changes in blood pressure among African Americans. The Pitt County Study. Am J Epidemiol 1997; 14: 7233. [130] Friedman HS. Cardiovascular eects of alcohol. Recent Dev Alcohol 1998; 14: 13566. [131] Messerli FH, Ventura HO, Elizardi DJ, Dunn FG, Frohlich ED. Hypertension and sudden death. Increased ventricular ectopic activity in left ventricular hypertrophy. Am J Med 1984; 77: 1822. [132] Pringle SD, Dunn FG, Macfarlane PW, McKillop JH, Lorimer AR, Cobbe SM. Signicance of ventricular arrhythmias in systemic hypertension with left ventricular hypertrophy. Am J Cardiol 1992; 69: 9137. [133] Rials SJ, Wu Y, Ford N et al. Eect of left ventricular hypertrophy and its regression on ventricular electrophysiology and vulnerability to inducible arrhythmias in the feline heart. Circulation 1997; 91: 42630. [134] Grobbee DE, Hoes AW. Non-potassium sparing diuretics and risk of sudden cardiac death. J Hypertens 1995; 153945. [135] SHEP Cooperative Research Group. Prevention of stroke by antihypertensive drug treatment in older persons with isolated systolic hypertension. Final results of the Systolic Hypertension in the Elderly Program (SHEP). JAMA 1991; 265: 325564. [136] Franz MR, Bargheer K, Raenbeul W, Haverich A, Lichtlen PR. Monophasic action potential mapping in human subjects with normal electrocardiograms: direct evidence for genesis of the T wave. Circulation 1987; 75: 39786. [137] Lopez Gil M, Arribas F, Velazquez MT, Casa P. Hypertensive cardiomyopathy and arrhythmias. Rev Esp Cardiol 1997; 50 (Suppl 1 4): 6873. [138] Vaziri SM, Larson MG, Benjamin EJ, Levy D. Echcardiographic predictors of nonrheumatic atrial brillation: the Framingham Heart Study. Circulation 1994; 89: 72430. [139] Cowie MR, Wood DA, Coats AJS, Thompson SG, PooleWilson PA, Suresh V. Incidence and aetiology of heart failure: a population-based study. Eur Heart J 1999; 20: 4218. [140] Kannel WB, Levy D, Cupples LA. Left ventricular hypertrophy and risk of cardiac failure. Insights from the Framingham Study. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 1987; 10 (Suppl 6): S13540. [141] Galderesi M, Petrocelli A, Aleri A, Garofalo M, de Divitiis O. Impact of ambulatory blood pressure on left ventricular diastolic dysfunction in uncomplicated arterial systemic hypertension. Am J Cardiol 1996; 77: 597601. [142] Weber KT. Cardiac interstitium in health and disease: the brillar collagen network. J Am Coll Cardiol 1989; 13: 163752. [143] Thiedemann KU, Holubarsch C, Medugoric I, Jacob R. Connective tissue content and myocardial stiness in pressure overload hypertrophy. A combined study of morphologic, morphometric, biochemical and mechanical parameters. Basic Res Cardiol 1983; 78: 14055. [144] Brilla CG, Weber KT. Reactive and reparative myocardial brosis in arterial hypertension. Cardiovasc Res 1992; 26: 6717. [145] Capasso JM, Palackal T, Olivetti G, Anversa P. Left ventricular failure induced by long term hypertension in rats. Circ Res 1990; 66: 140012.
[146] Sechtem U. The athletes heart revisited. Eur Heart J 1996; 17: 113840. [147] Pfeer JM. Regression of left ventricular hypertrophy as viewed from the periphery. Curr Op Cardiol 1995; 9: 52733. [148] McMahon SW, Wilcken DE, McDonald JG. The eects of weight reduction on left ventricular mass. Randomised control trial in young, overweight, hypertensive patients. N Engl J Med 1986; 314: 3349. [149] Devereux RB, Dahlof B. Criteria for an informative trial of left ventricular hypertrophy regression. J Hum Hypertens 1994; 8: 7359. [150] Dahlof B, Pennert K, Hansson L. Reversal of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive patients: a meta-analysis of 109 treatment studies. Am J Hypertens 1992; 5: 95110. [151] Schmieder RE, Martus P, Klingbeil A. Reversal of left ventricular hypertrophy in essential hypertension: a metaanalysis of randomized double-blind studies. JAMA 1996; 275: 150713. [152] Schlaich MP, Schmieder RE. Left ventricular hypertrophy and its regression: pathophysiology and therapeutic approach. Am J Hypertens 1998; 11: 1394404. [153] Thurmann PA. Angiotensin II antagonism and the heart: Valsartan in left ventricular hypertrophy. Cardiology 1999; 91 (Suppl S1): 37. [154] Maron BJ, Gardin JM, Flack JM, Gidding SS, Kurosaki TT, Bild DE. The prevalence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in general population of young adults: echocardiographic analysis of 4111 subjects in the CARDIA Study. Coronary Artery Risk Development in (Young) Adults. Circulation 1995; 92: 7859. [155] Gardin J Siscovick D, Anton-Culver H et al. Sex, age and disease aect echocardiographic left ventricular mass and systolic function in the free-living elderly: the Cardiovascular Health Study. Circulation 1995; 91: 173948. [156] Devereux RB, Dahlho B, Levy D, Pfeer MA. Comparison of enalapril vs nifedipine to decrease left ventricular hypertrophy in systemic hypertension (the PRESERVE trial). Am J Cardiol 1996; 78: 615. [157] Devereux RB, Roman MJ, Paranicas M et al. Relations of Doppler stroke volume and its components to left ventricular stroke volume in normotensive and hypertensive American Indians: the Strong Heart Study. Am J Hypertens 1997; 10: 61828. [158] Dahlof B, Devereux R, de Faire U et al. The Losartan Intervention For Endpoint reduction (LIFE) in Hypertension study: rationale, design, and methods. The LIFE Study Group. Am J Hypertens 1997; 10: 70513. [159] Schulman SP, Weiss JL, Becker LC et al. Eects of antihypertensive therapy on left ventricular mass in elderly patients. N Engl J Med 1990; 322: 13506. [160] Trimarco B, De Lucca N, Riciardelli B et al. Cardiac function and systemic hypertension before and after reversal of left ventricular hypertrophy. Am J Cardiol 1988; 62: 74550. [161] Muiesan ML, Agabetti-Rossi, Romanelli et al. Improved left ventricular systolic and diastolic function after regression of cardiac hypertrophy, treatment withdrawal and redevelopment of hypertension. J Cardiovasc Pharmacol 1991; 7 (Suppl 2): S17981. [162] Iriarte M, Caso R, Murga N et al. Enalapril-induced regression of hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy, regional ischaemia, and microvascular angina. Am J Cardiol 1995; 75: 8502. [163] Tan LB, Brilla CG, Weber KT. Prevention of structural changes in the heart in hypertension by angiotensin converting enzyme inhibition. J Hypertens 1992; 10 (Suppl 1): S314.