Bahattin Balci

The influence of ambulatory blood pressure profile on left ventricular geometry.

Besides causing a hypertrophy in the left ventricle, hypertension results in a change in the geometry of the left ventricle. The blood pressure, which does not decrease enough during the night, leads to structural changes in the left ventricle. In this study, the influence of 24‐hour blood pressure profile on the left ventricular geometry was examined. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was applied to 60 patients with mild to moderate hypertension who had never been treated and standard echocardiographic evaluation was conducted thereafter. The patients were divided into two groups with respect to the ambulatory blood pressure profiles: the patients whose night blood pressure levels decreased by more than 10% compared to their daytime blood pressure levels (dipper) and those whose levels did not decrease that much (nondipper). The left ventricle mass index and the relative wall thickness of the patients were calculated. With respect to the left ventricle geometry, mass index and relative wall thickness of the patients were determined as: having normal geometry, concentric remodeling, eccentric hypertrophy, and concentric hypertrophy. Age, gender, systolic, and diastolic blood pressure were similar within the dipper and nondipper groups. Normal geometry, concentric remodeling, and concentric hypertrophy ratios were similar in both groups. Eccentric hypertrophy was higher in the nondipper group compared to the dipper group (42.9% vs 6.3%, P < 0.03). Patients with mild to moderate hypertension, whose blood pressure does not decrease enough, develop eccentric hypertrophy. (ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY, Volume 21, January 2004)

Influence of Left Ventricular Geometry on Regional Systolic and Diastolic Function in Patients with Essential Hypertension

Objective: In essential hypertension, especially in concentric hypertrophy, global diastolic function is impaired. But, whether the left ventricular (LV) geometric pattern influences regional systolic and diastolic function or not, is unknown. This study was aimed to evaluate the influence of left ventricular geometric pattern on regional systolic and diastolic function in hypertensive patients. Design: Ninety untreated mild to moderate hypertensive patients were studied. M-mode parameters, standard Doppler and PW tissue Doppler indices were measured. Patients were divided into four groups according to left ventricular mass index and relative wall thickness: normal geometry ( n = 16), concentric remodeling ( n = 16), eccentric hypertrophy ( n = 32) and concentric hypertrophy ( n = 26). Results: Age, gender, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure were similar among groups. E/A ratio was significantly lower in the concentric hypertrophy group compared with the normal geometry group. Em velocity and Em/Am ratio in basal septum and Em velocity in basal inferior were statistically lower in the concentric hypertrophy group compared with the normal geometry group. In the concentric hypertrophy group, the number of segments with diastolic dysfunction was significantly higher compared with the normal geometry group. LV ejection fraction and regional S velocity could be compared among groups. Conclusion: LV regional diastolic function is being impaired in concentric hypertrophy. LV regional systolic function does not show a difference according to the LV geometric pattern.

Extent of coronary collateral vessel decrease with advanced age.

Objective — Animal experiments show that angiogenesis, responsible for the development of collaterals, impairs with increasing age.We retrospectively investigated the relationship between the extent of coronary collaterals and age in patients who had total occlusion in at least one of their epicardial coronary arteries. Methods and results — The records of 2160 consecutive patients who had undegone coronary angiography were examined. The coronary collaterals of the 720 patients who had total occlusion in at least one epicardial artery were evaluated according to the Rentrop scoring system.The patients were divided into four groups according to age: age > 50 years (group 1), ≥ 50 years and > 60 years (group 2), ≥ 60 years and > 70 years (group 3) and > 70 years (group 4). A Rentrop score of 1 to 3 was accepted as a reliable measure of presence of coronary collaterals. The gender distribution was statistically comparable among the groups. The percentage of the coronary collaterals was as follows: 67% in group 1, 47% in group 2, 48% in group 3 and 28% in group 4.The extent of coronary collaterals was significantly lower in group 4 compared with group 1 (p > 0.01). Conclusion — The extent of coronary collaterals seems to decrease significantly with advanced age.

192 The influence of ambulatory blood pressure profile on left ventricular geometry

Besides causing a hypertrophy in the left ventricle, hypertension results in a change in the geometry of the left ventricle. The blood pressure, which does not decrease enough during the night, leads to structural changes in the left ventricle. In this study, the influence of 24-hour blood pressure profile on the left ventricular geometry was examined. Ambulatory blood pressure monitoring was applied to 60 patients with mild to moderate hypertension who had never been treated and standard echocardiographic evaluation was conducted thereafter. The patients were divided into two groups with respect to the ambulatory blood pressure profiles: the patients whose night blood pressure levels decreased by more than 10% compared to their daytime blood pressure levels (dipper) and those whose levels did not decrease that much (nondipper). The left ventricle mass index and the relative wall thickness of the patients were calculated. With respect to the left ventricle geometry, mass index and relative wall thickness of the patients were determined as: having normal geometry, concentric remodeling, eccentric hypertrophy, and concentric hypertrophy. Age, gender, systolic, and diastolic blood pressure were similar within the dipper and nondipper groups. Normal geometry, concentric remodeling, and concentric hypertrophy ratios were similar in both groups. Eccentric hypertrophy was higher in the nondipper group compared to the dipper group (42.9% vs 6.3%, P < 0.03). Patients with mild to moderate hypertension, whose blood pressure does not decrease enough, develop eccentric hypertrophy.