Hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy.

In the initial stage, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is adaptive, but in time, it transforms to maladaptive LVH which is specific for the development of various phenotypes that cause heart failure, initially with preserved, but later with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction. Pathophysiological mechanisms, which are characteristic for remodeling procedure, are numerous and extremely complex, and should be subjected to further research with the aim of making a comprehensive overview of hypertensive heart disease (HHD) and discovering new options for preventing and treating HHD. The contemporary methods, such as cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) and computed tomography (CT) provide very accurate morphological and functional information on HHD.

Diabetic Cardiomyopathy: Clinical and Metabolic Approach.

Background: Having in mind that diabetes mellitus (DM) and obesity are some of the greatest health challenges of the modern era, diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is becoming more and more recognized in clinical practice. Main Text: Initially, DM is asymptomatic, but it may progress to diastolic and then systolic left ventricular dysfunction, which results in congestive heart failure. A basic feature of this DM complication is the absence of hemodynamically significant stenosis of the coronary blood vessels.

Electrocardiographic criteria which have the best prognostic significance in hypertensive patients with echocardiographic hypertrophy of left ventricle: 15-year prospective study.

Background: Electrocardiography is the first-choice technique for detecting left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with arterial hypertension. It is necessary to know the probable outcome for every patient during the treatment, with the aim of improving cardiovascular event prevention.

Hypothesis: Certain electrocardiographic criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy may predict outcomes of patients with left ventricular hypertrophy during a 15-year follow-up.

QTc dispersion and Cornell duration product can predict 10-year outcomes in hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy.

Background: Persistent and adequate treatment of patients with arterial hypertension leads to more favorable disease outcome.

Hypothesis: Aside for the present left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), there are other non-invasive parameters which can represent additional predictors of unfavorable prognosis in patients with essential arterial hypertension during the 10-year follow-up.

Methods: A hypertensive group with LVH (124 patients; age 57.