الفهرس 
Patients and methodsيوجد فقط 14 صفحة متاحة للعرض العام
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المستخلص
Hypertension is the most prevalent cardiovascular (CV) disorder, affecting 20–50% of the adult population in developed countries. The prevalence of hypertension increases with age, rising steeply after the age of 50, and affecting more than 50% of this population (1). Hypertension is a major risk factor for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The presence of hypertension doubles the risk for coronary heart disease and sudden death, and triples the risk of congestive heart failure as well as strokes. Patients with high blood pressure frequently have abnormalities of cardiac structure or function, including left ventricular hypertrophy, systolic and diastolic dysfunction and in extreme cases, overt heart failure (2).
The heart involvement in arterial hypertension is currently evaluated by standard echocardiography. Measurements of left ventricular mass identify left ventricular hypertrophy, whereas relative wall thickness categorizes LV concentric or eccentric (normal) geometry (3)
The importance of left ventricle functional assessment in hypertensive heart disease by traditional methods is more debated. However, the majority of studies in hypertensive cohorts uses measures of LV systolic function derived from standard 2D echocardiography and doppler indices of LV diastolic function (4, 5).
An innovative evaluation of left ventricular function has recently become available by 2D speckle tracking echocardiography (STE), a non-doppler technique that allows to