Abstract :
Introduction: Hypertension is a major risk factor for the development of coronary artery disease
(CAD), the reliability of stress testing for the evaluation of chest pain in patients with abnormal blood
pressure elevation is an important clinical problem. When compared to exercise electrocardiography, stress
echocardiography (SE) provides similar sensitivity but superior diagnostic specificity.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Physiology in
collaboration with echocardiography lab of Santosh Medical hospital Ghaziabad, on a population of 200
cases more than 60 years of age. Amongst these patients, 100 patients with hypertension for more than 5
years were included in Group 1 and 100 healthy age matched control were included in Group 2. Physical
parameters were recorded and all subjects underwent comprehensive echocardiographic examination. Data
was analysed using SPSS 20 software. All parameters were presented as mean and standard deviation. A
p-value
Results: Gender distribution was 86% Male and 14% female in case group and 91% Male and 9% female
subjects in control group. In echocardiographic parameters, the difference in values of L.A. Diameter in
Group 1(2.94 0.27) vs Group 2 (3.43 0.32) was significant. Similarly, difference in value of Aortic Root
in Group 1(2.94 0.27) vs Group 2 (3.02 0.32) was significant. The difference in value of IVSD in Group 1
(2.94 0.27) vs Group 2 (3.02 0.32) was also significant. However, difference in values of LVID in Group
1 (4.97 4.25) vs Group 2 (5.24 5.) was not statistically significant.
Conclusion: In current study, Left ventricular systolic function was within normal physiological limits in
all hypertensive patients. However, when compared to healthy control group it was lower suggesting that
chronic hypertension does affect left ventricular function gradually.
Keyword :
Echocardiography, Hypertension, Indian population, Left ventricle function, Left ventricle hypertrophy, Aortic root diameter, LVID, IVSD, LA diameter.