Prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy in a general population; The Tromsø Study

Abstract

Aims Left ventricular hypertrophy has been shown to be an independent predictor of cardiovascular morbidity. Acknowledging the skewed distribution of left ventricular mass, we wanted to develop criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy based on percentiles of left ventricular mass, and observe the effect on estimates of left ventricular hypertrophy prevalences in different subgroups and on the relationship to cardiovascular risk factors in a general population. Methods and ResultsIn a population-based sample of 3287 subjects aged 25-85 years, left ventricular mass was estimated using M-mode echocardiography. A 'healthy' subgroup was used as a reference sample to define sexspecific left ventricular hypertrophy criteria. Sex-specific 97·5 percentiles for left ventricular mass by height, based on the reference sample, were 145·5 and 125·4 g . m 1 , for men and women, respectively. The prevalences of left ventricular hypertrophy in the total population were 14·9% for men and 9·1% for women. The main independent predictors of left ventricular hypertrophy were male gender, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, valvular heart disease, cardiovascular disease and antihypertensive medication. Body mass index and systolic blood pressure had a strong synergistic association with left ventricular hypertrophy in men, but not in women. ConclusionAn alternative framework for defining left ventricular hypertrophy is provided. Body mass index is the culprit factor for risk of left ventricular hypertrophy. Our study indicates that weight reduction is a relevant measure for treatment and possibly prevention of left ventricular hypertrophy in a substantial part of the general population. (Eur Heart J 1999; 20: 429-438)

Reference Values and Distribution of Conventional Echocardiographic Doppler Measures and Longitudinal Tissue Doppler Velocities in a Population Free From Cardiovascular Disease

“…10,22,24 -26 In the Tromsø Heart Study, one of the largest population-based echocardiography studies, mitral inflow velocities and IVRT were similar to the findings of the present study, but DT differed slightly between the studies. 25,26 The cTDI values were in line with those of others, 6,7,22,27 but the pwTDI-assessed mitral annular velocities were lower than those reported from other smaller studies. 8,14,28 However, diastolic pwTDI indices were in line with those reported previously in 80 healthy individuals.…”

The epidemiology of left ventricular hypertrophy in type 2 diabetes mellitus

“…This is an inevitable limitation of all echocardiographic studies and imaging failure rates of 2-40% have been reported [11,26,[52][53][54]. As expected, the two main contributors to inadequate echo images in our study were increasing age and high BMI.…”

Association of endogenous testosterone with blood pressure and left ventricular mass in men. The Tromso Study

“…Left ventricular mass was indexed for height to control for the increase in left ventricular mass with increasing height, without masking the increase in left ventricular mass with increasing BMI (14). Left ventricular hypertrophy was defined by sexspecific 97.5 percentiles of left ventricular mass by height in a healthy reference group, aged 25 -76 years, from the total echo sample (15). The cut-off normal value for men was , 145.5 g/m.…”