Left Ventricle Size Confirmed as Predictor of Cardiovascular Morbidity
A “strong, continuous and independent” association between left ventricular (LV) mass and cardiovascular morbidity in patients with essential hypertension has emerged in the Italian Massa Ventriculare sinistra nell’Ipertensione arteriosa or MAVI study.
Dr. Paolo Verdecchia and colleagues from the ANMCO Research Center in Firenze, Italy report their findings in the December issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. “Only a few single-center studies support the prognostic value of LV mass in uncomplicated hypertension,” the team notes in the paper.
In the MAVI study, researchers from 45 hospitals determined LV size using echocardiography in 1,033 patients aged 50 or older with uncomplicated essential hypertension and no prior cardiovascular events. Study subjects were followed for a median of 3 years.
After adjusting for age, diabetes, cigarette smoking and serum creatinine level, LV hypertrophy was associated with a 2.08 relative risk of cardiovascular events including MI and stroke, the team reports. Moreover, each 39 g/m² (1 SD) increase in LV mass was independently associated with a 40% increase risk of major cardiovascular events (p = 0.0013).
The researchers say this is the first study to demonstrate a “powerful association between LV mass determined at echocardiography and subsequent occurrence of cardiovascular disease in a nationwide representative multicenter sample of uncomplicated subjects with essential hypertension.”
Preventing or reversing LV hypertrophy, they add, should be key components of a management plan for patients with essential hypertension.
J Am Coll Cardiol 2001;38:1829-1835.
