Characteristics of right ventricular function in patients with essential hypertension

Two-dimension and pulsed doppler cchocardiography was used to evaluate the function of rig ht ventricle in 166 patients with essential hypertension. The pulmonary artery peak flow velocity in 100 patients without left ventricular hypertrophy（LVH） has no significant difference with that in 79 healthy controls（0.65±0.17 vs 0.63±0.18. P＜0.01） The tricuspid early peak flow velocity（E） decreased（0.43±0.08 vs 0.46±0.12 P＜0.01） but the late peak flow velocity（A） increased （0.30±0.09 vs 0.24±0,06, P＜0.01）. E/A reduced also （1.57±0.53 vs 2.02±0.78, P＜0.01）. The pulmonary peak flow velocity in 66 patients with LVH elevated markedly as compared with those without LVH （0.71±0.18 vs 0.65±0.17, P＜0.01） but A increased（0.34±0.10 vs 0.30±0.09, P＜0.001） and E/A decreased （1.20±0.87 vs 1.57±0.53, P＜0.001） The decrement of E/A correlated with the thickness of interventricular septum and left ventricular mass （r= -0.68 and -0.60 respectively, P＜0.01）. The results show that the diastolic function of right ventricle is impaired in the early stage of essential hypertension but the systolic function remains unchanged. The decreas in diastolic function and the increase in systolic function appear together with the development of LVH.