Left Ventricular Geometry and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy Phenotype in Newly Diagnosed Hypertension in North-eastern Nigeria.

Background: Left Ventricular Hypertrophy (LVH) is a key component of hypertensive heart disease. The prevalence of hypertensive LVH ranges from 19% to 48 % in untreated hypertensive patients amongst the Western population but is 46% to 63% in Nigeria. The study aims to highlight the prevalence of LVH and to determine the pattern of LV geometry and the LVH phenotype in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients.

Methodology: The study was cross-sectional, and observational between June 2019 and June 2021. The study population comprised 300 newly diagnosed hypertensive adult patients aged 18 years and above, and 300 Healthy age, sex-matched non-hypertensive adults as control groups. An echocardiography was performed and the diagnostic criteria for LVH, LV Geometry and LVH phenotype were used based on the American Society of Echocardiography and the European Association of Cardiovascular Imaging.

Results: The total number of study participants was 600, three hundred newly diagnosed hypertensive patients and three hundred normotensive controls. The male participants comprised 180 (60%) of the newly diagnosed hypertensive cases and 120 (40%) of the normotensive controls, while the female participants accounted for 168 (56%) of the hypertensive group and 132 (44%) of the control group, respectively. Overall, 59% of newly diagnosed hypertensive patients had LVH. Concentric LVH was the commonest LV geometry with a prevalence of 37% among newly diagnosed hypertensive patients. Fifty-five point four per cent (55.4%) of newly diagnosed hypertensive patients had concentric non-dilated hypertrophy.

Conclusion: LVH is highly prevalent and occurs in more than half of newly diagnosed hypertensive patients. The commonest LV geometry is concentric hypertrophy, and the LVH phenotype of concentric non-dilated Hypertrophy accounts for more than half of LVH.