Relation of left ventricular mass, preload, afterload and contractility in pediatric patients with essential hypertension.

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to determine if left ventricular preload, afterload or contractility is a correlate of left ventricular mass index in hypertensive pediatric patients. BACKGROUND It is believed that decreased contractility and increased preload are associated with left ventricular hypertrophy in adult hypertensive patients. METHODS Ninety pediatric hypertensive patients underwent echocardiography to assess left ventricular mass, preload (diastolic dimension and volume) and afterload (end-systolic wall stress, vascular resistance and blood pressure). Contractility was assessed by 1) the end-systolic stress/volume ratio, and 2) the difference between measured and predicted velocity of circumferential fiber shortening. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed. RESULTS Univariate analysis showed significant correlations between left ventricular mass and 1) body mass (r = 0.33, p < 0.001), 2) black race (r = 0.37, p < 0.0003), 3) diastolic dimension (r = 0.26, p < 0.01), 4) diastolic volume (r = 0.20, p < 0.05), and 5) stress/volume ratio (r = -0.53, p < 0.0001) but not the difference between measured and predicted velocity of circumferential fiber shortening. A multivariate model included body mass, age at diagnosis, diastolic dimension, wall stress and vascular resistance but not the difference between measured and predicted velocity of circumferential fiber shortening. CONCLUSIONS Contractility is not significantly related to left ventricular mass. The positive correlation between mass and stress/volume may be due to the dependence of the latter variable on loading conditions. We speculate that both elevated preload and systemic vascular resistance may have a role in the development of hypertrophy in hypertensive pediatric patients.