Left ventricular hypertrophy is an important risk factor of cardiovascular complications during the course of hypertension. Increased QT dispersion is associated with sudden cardiac death in congestive heart failure and in other cardiovascular diseases. Our aim was to compare QT dispersion from routine ECG in hypertensive patients with and without left ventricular hypertrophy defined by echocardiography. Authors examined 71 hypertensives treated in our medical department. Left ventricular hypertrophy was defined by echocardiography (Penn convention) as left ventricular mass index > 134 g/m2 in men and > 110 g/m2 in women. QT dispersion was defined from routine ECG (QTmax - QTmin). Presence of LVH was found in 26 patients (mean age 59.3 years), absence of LVH in 45 patients (mean age 57.8 years). Hypertensives with secondary hypertension, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, sings of ischemia in ECG, arrhythmias, myocardial infarction, heart failure, diabetes mellitus and patients treated by antiarrhythmic drugs of the Ic and III groups were excluded. Both groups of hypertensives were matched by demographic parameters, and by the presence of hypertension, obesity, hyperlipidemia and smoking habites. There were statistically significant longer QT dispersion and QTc dispersion (59.0 +/- 20.1 ms, 64.0 +/- 23.7 ms) in LVH-positive patients than in LVH-negative once (43.2 +/- 9.5 ms, 48.4 +/- 11.1 ms). Left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with hypertension brings usually a complicated course of the disease. Authors recommend to look after left ventricular hypertrophy presence in hypertensives as it carries much more complicated course of the disease. Measurment of QT dispersion adds farther stratificational information to these patients.

Keywords: Adult; Aged; Electrocardiography; Female; Humans; Hypertension /complications/; Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular /etiology/; Male; Middle Aged