Development of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Treated Hypertensive Outpatients

Abstract

There is little information on left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH) development during antihypertensive treatment. We evaluate incident LVH in a treated hypertensive cohort, the Campania Salute Network registry. We analyzed prospectively 4290 hypertensives (aged 50.3±11.1 years, 40% women) with at least 1-year follow-up, without LVH at baseline. Incident LVH was defined as the first detection of echocardiographic LV mass index ≥47 in women or ≥50 g/m ^2.7 in men. During a median 48-month follow-up, 915 patients (21.3%) developed LVH. They were older, more frequently women, and obese ( P P ++ -channel blockers and diuretics (both P P P =0.019; and obese versus nonobese women: hazard ratio, 1.34; confidence interval, 1.08–1.66; P =0.007). Despite more aggressive antihypertensive therapy, 21% of hypertensive patients develop clear-cut LVH. After adjusting for confounders, risk of incident LVH is particular relevant among women and is further increased by the presence of obesity. Clinical Trial Registration—: URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov . Unique identifier: NCT02211365.