RELATION BETWEEN AGE, LEFT-VENTRICULAR MASS AND VENTRICULAR ARRHYTHMIAS IN PATIENTS WITH HYPERTENSION

To evaluate the effect of age on left ventricular hypertrophy-related arrhythmias in patients with essential arterial hypertension, 68 hyper tensives (47 men and 21 women, mean age 59.4+/-9.5 years) without othe r cardiovascular disorders were studied, All patients underwent M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiogram and 24 h ambulatory electrocardiog raphic monitoring to measure left ventricular internal dimension, sept um and posterior wall thickness, left ventricular mass index, prematur e ventricular beats and modified Lown grade. Premature ventricular bea ts (PVB) and modified Lown grade were significantly related to left Ve ntricular mass index, but not to left ventricular internal dimension, fractional shortening, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, There wa s no relation between age and number of PVB, or severity of arrhythmia s. In conclusion, in hypertensive patients only left ventricular hyper trophy, and not age, plays a significant role in the pathophysiology o f the increased incidence of ventricular arrhythmias by a different me chanism than age-related increased ventricular arrhythmias.