Day-to-day variability of electrocardiographic diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive patients. Influence of electrode placement.

Objective: Although electrocardiography (ECG) is recommended in all subjects with hypertension, no information is available on the influence exerted by random changes in the placement of electrodes on the day-to-day variability of ECG criteria for diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH).

Methods: In a multicentre, randomized study, two standard 12-lead ECG were recorded, 24 h apart, from 276 consecutive hypertensive patients (mean age 65 +/- 12 years, 49.6% men).

Association between periodontal disease and left ventricle mass in essential hypertension.

Chronic periodontitis has been associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease. Left ventricular mass is an established independent predictor of cardiovascular disease. In the present cross-sectional study, we tested the association between periodontitis and left ventricular mass in subjects with essential hypertension.

Prognostic value of left ventricular hypertrophy and geometry in patients with a first, uncomplicated myocardial infarction.

Background: The prognostic impact of left ventricular (LV) geometry on cardiovascular risk for patients with a first, uncomplicated acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and echocardiographic ejection fraction > or =50% has not been well described.

Methods And Results: Accordingly, 111 AMI consecutive patients (mean age 59.3+/-10 years) performed echocardiographic examination at predischarge.

Usefulness of the severity and extent of wall motion abnormalities as prognostic markers of an adverse outcome after a first myocardial infarction treated with thrombolytic therapy.

The prognostic value of wall motion score index (WMSI), assessed at predischarge after a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in the thrombolytic era, is still not well known. One-hundred forty-four consecutive patients with a first AMI treated with thrombolytic therapy underwent exercise testing and echocardiography at rest before discharge and were followed-up for a mean period of 18 months. During follow-up, there were 32 cardiac events (12 patients had cardiac deaths, 8 had unstable angina pectoris, 1 had nonfatal reinfarction, and 11 patients had congestive heart failure).