The significance of dilatation of aortic root and aortic artery in essential hypertension patients

Abstract

Objective To evaluate the significance of dilatation of aortic root and aortic artery in primary hypertension patients. Methods A total of 174 hypertensive subjects with aortic root and aortic artery dilation(echocardiography confirmed)were enrolled in this study from December 2007 to August 2009, 70 patients with normal aortic root and aortic artery diameters were enrolled as control group with age and sex matched.Clinical characteristics and echocardiographic parameters were compared between two groups. Results Compared with the control group, the prevalence of smoking[47.3%(82/174)vs. 31.4%(22/70)], dyslipidemia [52.7%(91/174)vs. 44.3%(31/70))and atherosclerosis[54.1%(94/174)vs. 42.9%(30/70)]were higher in aortic root and aortic artery dilation group(all P<0.05). The diameter of left atrial [(39.1±5.9)mm vs.(37.8±6.5)mm], inter-ventricular septum(IVS)[(11.6±5.5)mm vs.(10.7±2.7)mm]and E/Em[(9.3±3.8)vs.(7.8±2.9)was statistically higher in aortic root and aortic artery dilation group than control group(all P<0.05); while E peak velocity[(72±14)cm/s vs.(75±16)cm/s), Em[(7.7±2.7)cm/s vs.(9.4±2.6)cm/s) and E/A[(0.86±0.29)vs.(1.03±0.30)] was significantly lower in aortic root and aortic atery dilation group than those in control group(all P<0.05). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that age, IVS, E/A and E/Em were the independent factors for aortic root and aortic artery dilatation. Conclusions Hypertensive patients with aortic root and aortic artey dilatation often have multiple cardiovascular risk factors and abnormalities of cardiac structure and function. Key words: Hypertension; Echocardiography; Aortic root dilatation