Aim: To determine how hypertension affects the left ventricular diastolic function of patients with effort angina.
Methods: We performed radionuclide ventriculography in 14 patients with isolated stenosis of the left anterior descending coronary artery and in seven healthy volunteers.
Results: Neither global nor regional peak filling rate differed significantly between the patients with (n=6) and without (n=8) hypertension, although the left ventricular asynchronous index was significantly increased (P<0.05) in the hypertensive patients (87+/-20 ms), compared with the normotensive patients (59+/-22 ms). This index was significantly (P<0.05) correlated with left ventricular mass index in all participants.
Conclusions: Hypertension increased the diastolic non-uniformity of the left ventricle in patients with effort angina.