The Hypertensive Heart: Pathogenesis, Variants, and Prognostic Value

We examine the heart's involvement in arterial hypertension, reporting on several studies of hypertensive patients showing that left ventricular myocardial mass is a significant prognostic indicator of essential hypertension and that left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) correlates with an induced increase in Ca 2+ concentration in platelets. We also consider the LVH variant of asymmetric hypertrophy and the role of the hypertensive heart in coronary insufficiency, and we speculate on the significance of the degree of LVH and asymmetric hypertrophy as risk factors for predicting cardiac complications of essential hypertension. Key words: essential hypertension, hypertensive heart, left ventricular hypertrophy, coronary insufficiency, asymmetric hypertrophy