Dr. Tarun Rao,
BACKGROUND Those who have prehypertension are at increased risk of developing hypertension and CVDs, compared to normotensives. Prehypertension has been reported to be associated with LV structural and geometric abnormality. It has also been found that increased LV mass itself may be a predictor of future hypertension. Hence, as PHT and LV mass portend a risk of future hypertension, their simultaneous existence may have an additive role, nevertheless this needs to be determined. Despite this, presently no pharmacotherapy is recommended for pre-hypertensions. This study was aimed to assess effect of prehypertension on LV mass index in young males and to evaluate the clinical associates of abnormal LV mass index. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was carried among young adult males admitted at a tertiary care teaching hospital. All study subjects underwent physical examination including anthropometric measurements and echocardiographic examination for determination of LV mass. RESULTS We found that 29 (14.5%) had abnormally high LVMI. Among prehypertensives 23% and among normotensives 6% had abnormally high LVMI. Older age and prehypertension were found to have higher odds of abnormal LVMI after multiple variable logistic regression. CONCLUSION It has been proposed that pre-hypertension and high LVMI are associated with significant risk of future adverse events including the emergence of hypertension. Our study further confirms this and supports the notion of screening for prehypertension and high LVMI. Still, no pharmacotherapy is recommended for prehypertension which requires future studies to shed light upon this grey area.
