EFFECTS OF HYPERTENSION ON INTIMAL-MEDIAL THICKNESS, LEFT-VENTRICULARMASS AND AORTIC DISTENSIBILITY

The aim of the study was to evaluate arterial distensibility, intimal- medial thickening of the common carotid artery, left ventricular mass and the eventual correlations among these parameters in the hypertensi ve state. Our study population consisted of 89 hypertensive patients a ged 35 to 80 years (mean age 60.8 +/- 10.6 years), and 76 normotensive subjects aged 45 to 85 years (mean age 61.2 +/- 11.1 years). Those pa tients constantly presenting systolic blood pressure values greater th an or equal to 160 mmHg or diastolic blood pressure > 90 mmHg were dia gnosed as hypertensive. Each patient underwent a B-mode echotomographi c examination of the extracranial carotid tract performed with a Vingm ed CFM 150 echotomographer with a 7.5 MHz probe and M-mode echocardiog raphy with a Vingmed CFM 750 device equipped with a 3.0 MHz transducer . The results show the intimal-media thickness value in hypertensive p atients (0.90 +/- 0.22 mm on the right and 0.92 +/- 0.22 mm on the lef t), was significantly greater than that in normotensive subjects (0.64 +/- 0.13 mm on the right and 0.64 +/- 0.13 mm on the left, p < 0.001) ; in hypertensive subjects, interventricular septum thickness (12.1 +/ - 1.25 mm) was significantly greater than that in normotensive patient s (9.1 +/- 0.77 mm, p < 0.001). In conclusion, we can say that hyperte nsive subjects have higher Values of common carotid artery intimal-med ial thickness than normotensives and that this finding is associated w ith the presence of left ventricular hypertrophy and with a reduction in arterial compliance. Vascular ultrasonography, as well as echocardi ography and arterial mechanography can show, in hypertensive subjects, cardiac and vascular abnormalities in a non invasive way.