Increased extracellular volume and altered mechanics are associated with left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive heart disease, not hypertension alone

Background Study purpose To detect differences in extracellular volume (ECV) and systolic strain in hypertensive patients with LVH as compared to hypertensive patients without LVH and age-matched controls. Background: Increased ECV due to diffuse myocardial fibrosis in hypertensive patients may be an underlying mechanism contributing to increased cardiovascular risk. Moreover HTN patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) are at higher risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality when compared to HTN Non-LVH subjects. We compared levels of ECV and systolic strain between HTN LVH, HTN Non-LVH and control subjects.