Arterial systemic hypertension is associated to right ventricular longitudinal diastolic dysfunction. This dysfunction involves the prolongation of active relaxation, which is independently associated with the degree of right ventricular hypertrophy and the impairment of passive wall properties, which is mainly due to ventricular interaction occurring under left ventricular pressure overload conditions.

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Background-Left ventricular wall motion (WM) abnormalities have recognized prognostic significance in patients with coronary or other heart diseases; however, whether abnormal WM predicts adverse events in adults without overt cardiovascular disease has not been assessed. Our objective was to determine whether echocardiographic WM abnormalities predict subsequent cardiovascular events in a population-based sample. Methods and Results-Participants (nϭ2864, mean age 60Ϯ8 years, 64% women) without clinically evident cardiovascular disease in the second Strong Heart Study examination who had complete echocardiographic WM assessment were studied. Echocardiographic assessment revealed that 5% of participants (nϭ140) had focal hypokinesia, and 1.5% (nϭ42) had WM abnormalities. Relationships between WM abnormalities and fatal and nonfatal cardiovascular events (including myocardial infarction, stroke, coronary artery disease, and heart failure; nϭ554) and cardiovascular death (nϭ182) during 8Ϯ2 years follow-up were examined. In Cox regression, after adjustment for age, gender, waist/hip ratio, systolic blood pressure, and diabetes mellitus, segmental WM abnormalities were associated with a 2.5-fold higher risk of cardiovascular events and a 2.6-fold higher risk of cardiovascular death (both PϽ0.0001). In similar multivariable models, global WM abnormalities were associated with a 2.4-fold higher risk of cardiovascular events (Pϭ0.001) and a 3.4-fold higher risk of cardiovascular death (Pϭ0.003). Conclusions-Echocardiographic