This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 43/6/1160    most recent 01.HYP.0000128740.68851.8av1 Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Drazner, M. H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Drazner, M. H. Related Collections Hypertrophy Epidemiology

(Hypertension. 2004;43:1160.)
© 2004 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial Commentaries

Left Ventricular Hypertrophy Is More Common in Black than White Hypertensives: Is This News?

From the Heart Failure Research Unit, Donald W. Reynolds Cardiovascular Clinical Research Center, Division of Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas.

Correspondence to Dr Mark Drazner, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX 75390-9047. E-mail Mark.Drazner@utsouthwestern.edu

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

It is often stated that left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is more common in blacks than in whites.^1,2 Given that hypertension and hypertensive complications such as stroke and end-stage renal disease are more common in blacks than whites,³ it would be surprising if LVH was also not more common in blacks. Why then is the study by Kizer⁴ in this issue of Hypertension newsworthy?

First, it is important to recognize that LVH is an important cardiovascular phenotype. It has been shown to be associated with an increased risk for a number of adverse clinical outcomes including heart failure, incident coronary artery disease, stroke, arrhythmia, and mortality.⁵ Thus, understanding whether ethnic disparities in LVH do exist has clear public health implications, especially as vigorous attempts are made to understand and eliminate the increased cardiovascular mortality endured by black men and women as compared with their white counterparts.

Next, it is important to critically assess the data which support the claim that LVH is known to be more common in blacks than whites. In 1998, Deveraux and colleagues in a meta-analysis of the 9 prior echocardiographic studies that addressed black-white disparities in LVH in hypertensives concluded that left ventricular wall thickness but not left ventricular mass was consistently increased in blacks as compared with whites.⁶ In addition, the individual studies on which the meta-analysis was based were often small convenience samples and thus were likely not to be representative of the general population.

Since then, several studies have again addressed the issue of . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				G. de Simone Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Blacks and Whites: Different Genes or Different Exposure? Hypertension, July 1, 2005; 46(1): 23 - 24. [Full Text] [PDF]