Left ventricular hypertrophy offsets the sex difference in cardiovascular risk (the Campania Salute Network)

In general, women have lower risk for cardiovascular disease. We tested whether this sex-specific protection persists also in the presence of hypertensive left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). 12,329 women and men with hypertension and free from prevalent cardiovascular disease enrolled in the prospective Campania Salute Network registry were followed over a median of 4.1years. Subjects were grouped according to the absence or the presence of LVH identified by echocardiography using validated sex-specific cut-off values of LV mass index (>47g/m2.7 in women and >50g/m2.7 in men). Main outcome was major cardiovascular events (MACE; combined acute coronary syndromes, stroke, hospitalization for heart failure and incident atrial fibrillation). The cardiovascular risk profile accompanying LVH did not differ between sexes, but presence of obesity and diabetes carried higher probability for LVH in women, and LVH was more prevalent in women than men (43.4 vs. 32.1%, p