Age features of remodeling of the carotid artery wall and left ventricular myocardium in patients with arterial hypertension

This study investigated the prevalence of structural abnormalities of left ventricular (LV) and carotid arteries in untreated patients with grade 2 essential hypertension older than 40 years without clinical manifestations of target organ damage. Subgroups were formed depending on age: group 1 (n = 23; average age 45.13±0.95 years) and group 2 (n = 23; average age 54.93±0.46 years). The average duration of hypertension was 4.5 years. Ultrasound examined interventricular septum and posterior wall thickness, variants of myocardial geometry, common carotid intima–media thickness (IMT). As a result of the study, there were no significant differences in the prevalence of LV hypertrophy in the groups depending on age (34.8% and 39.1%). Concentric variants of myocardial remodeling were more prevalent than eccentric hypertrophy (p<0.05), which occurred mainly in group 1. In patients in group 2, the increased IMT of the common carotid artery was greater than in group 1 (82.6% and 34.8%, p<0.05) and most often associated with LV hypertrophy. Isolated LV hypertrophy, isolated LV concentric remodeling and isolated increased IMT were diagnosed more often among patients with AH younger than 50 years of age. Thus, a significant proportion of untreated patients with grade 2 essential hypertension have signs of hypertensive remodeling of the left ventricle and carotid artery wall, which are interrelated with age. More pronounced changes in the heart and blood vessels are observed in people over 50 years of age, in whom remodeling processes run in parallel. At the same time, concentric types of LV remodeling correlate with vascular remodeling.

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