Epidemiology and treatment of left ventricular hypertrophy in the elderly.

Abstract

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is an important independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and is associated with an increased risk of ventricular dysrhythmia, coronary artery disease, myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure and peripheral artery disease. The prevalence of LVH increases strongly with advancing age and, consequently, the prevention or reduction of LVH should be an important consideration in the older age-group. This review summarises current knowledge on LVH and discusses management issues with particular reference to the elderly. Evidence suggests that antihypertensive treatment can reverse or prevent LVH. There have been few studies of LVH in the elderly, but since age does not appear to be a factor in the regression of LVH, results of studies among younger hypertensive patients can be extrapolated to the elderly population. Meta-analyses of clinical studies have not established conclusively that angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and calcium antagonists are necessarily more effective than diuretics and beta-adrenoceptor antagonists in reducing LVH.