Assessment of left ventricular function in patients with essential hypertension by strain rate imaging

Objective To explore the characteristics of strain and strain rate of left ventricle in patients with essential hypertension. Methods Routine parameters and values of strain and strain rate in six left ventricular walls of 90 patients with essential hypertension and 30 healthy volunteers were acquired and analyzed offline respectively. According to the left ventricular mass index, all of the hypertensive patients were divided into two groups. Results The parameters of PSS, SRs and SRe in the hypertensive patients whose left ventricular wall was thicker than normal standard (LVH) were lower than that of the control group and patients with essential hypertension while had no left ventricular hypertrophy (NLVH) (P0.05). As to the SRa, there was no significant difference among the three groups. Conclusion Strain and strain rate imaging, as a new method, is useful in evaluating the left ventricular function of both systolic and diastolic in patients with hypertension.