RIGHT-VENTRICULAR FUNCTION IN SYSTEMIC HYPERTENSION

The aim of the study was the assessment of right ventricular (RV) stru cture and diastolic function in hypertensive subjects, The study group consisted of 44 patients with untreated, mild to moderate essential s ystemic hypertension. All the patients were in sinus rhythm, no sympto ms of congestive heart failure, ischaemic or valvular heart disease an d lung disorders were found, Twenty-six healthy subjects were the cont rol group. M-mode echocardiographic measurements of the right ventricu lar wall (RVW) diastolic thickness, right ventricular outflow tract di ameter (RVOTD), left ventricular (LV) structure and LV systolic functi on were performed. Pulsed Doppler echocardiography was used to measure peak early (TE) and peak atrial (TA) right ventricular diastolic fill ing velocities as well as velocity-time integrals (VTI-TE and VTI-TA), TE:TA and VTI-TE:VTI-TA ratios were calculated. Similar parameters of the left ventricular diastolic filling were recorded at the level of mitral annulus, Mean pulmonary artery pressure (MPAP) was measured non -invasively by the estimation of pulmonary artery systolic flows, We d emonstrated in hypertensive patients significantly thicker RVW (3.94 v s 2.8 mm, P < 0.001) and increased LV mass, In the hypertensive, incre ased TA and VTI-TA and diminished TE:TA and VTI-TE:VTI-TA ratios were recorded, indicating the abnormalities of RV diastolic function. RV di astolic filling parameters correlated positively with corresponding pa rameters of LV filling, The results of our study demonstrate that impa irment of LV diastolic function, the common finding in systemic hypert ension, is associated with diastolic disturbances of the right ventric le. RVW thickening and hypertrophy of interventricular septum seem to be major factors influencing RV diastolic function.