Electrocardiogram and echocardiographic study of left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with essential hypertension in a teaching medical college

Background: Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is the adaptive mechanism for increased left ventricular (LV) stress and is associated with many adverse events. This study was undertaken to study LVH in patients of essential hypertension and to correlate between clinical, electrocardiogram (ECG), and echocardiography (ECHO) in the identification of LVH. Materials and Methods: One hundred patients attending the outpatient department and those who were admitted in our teaching institute from January 2013 to June 2014 were the study subjects. All cases of essential hypertension, irrespective of the duration of hypertension and type of treatment received were included in the study. Patients with secondary hypertension, ischemic heart disease/myocardial infarction, ischemic cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease, and valvular heart disease were excluded. Conclusion: Out of the different ECG criteria, total QRS criteria showed a high sensitivity of 60%. ECG criteria have a high specificity but low sensitivity and hence, have limited use as a screening method. However, in a resource-poor country such as India where ECHO facilities are not available in all rural regions, improved ECG criteria such as total QRS voltage can be recommended as a routine investigation for LVH because of its cost-effectiveness and easy availability despite certain limitations