Prevalence and risk factors of abnormal left ventricular geometrical patterns in untreated hypertensive patients Running Title: Abnormal LV geometrical patterns

Objective To investigate the prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and different patterns of left ventricular (LV) geometry and their risk factors in untreated hypertension population in China. Methods A total of 9,286 participants (5167 males and 4119 females) were recruited from two Chinese communities. The LV geometry was classified into four patterns: normal; abnormal,defined as concentric remodeling;concentric or eccentric hypertrophy based on the values of left ventricular mass index (LVMI) and relative wall thickness(RWT). Logistic regression model was applied to determine the odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of the risk factors of left ventricular hypertrophy. Results The prevalence of LVH was 20.2% in untreated hypertensive patients, much higher in women (30.8%) than in men (14.2%) (P<0.01). The prevalence of LV geometrical patterns was 34.9%, 11.1%, 9.1% for concentric remodeling, concentric and eccentric hypertrophy,respectively. After adjustment by using Logistic regression model, the risk factors for LVH and abnormal LV geometry were age, female, systolic blood pressure, and body mass index. And low high density lipoprotein maybe a negative factor. Conclusions The prevalence of LVH and abnormal LV geometric patterns was higher in women than in men and increased with age. It is crucial to improve the awareness rate of hypertension and control the risk factors of CV complications in untreated hypertensive population.