Pulmonary hemodynamics and right ventricular function in hypertension.

Pulmonary and systemic hemodynamics in 16 hypertensive subjects (group I) with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (ECG and echo criteria) and in 17 hypertensive subjects with ECG signs of LV strain (group II), were compared with those in 14 normal individuals. An augmented pulmonary arteriolar resistance (PAR) in group I and to a larger extent in group II accounted for the pulmonary pressure elevation in both groups. Increase in PAR was unrelated to pulmonary blood flow and volume, pleural pressure, arterial PO2, PCO2 and pH, and could not be explained entirely by the left ventricular end-diastolic pressure changes. In group I, left (L.MSEJR) and right (R;MSEJR) mean systolic ejection rate, stroke index (SI) and mean velocity of circumferential fiber shortening (VCF) were enhanced in spite of the heightened pressure load on both sides of the heart. In group II, a large reduction of SI, L.MS.EJR, R.MSEJR and VCF, as well as the relationship between ventricular filling pressures and SI, documented a compromised performance of both ventricles, Findings indicate that: systemic hypertension is associated with elevation of pulmonary arterial pressure and of PAR which is not necessarily a consequence of impairment in LV function; LV hypertrophy is associated with enhanced performance of either ventricle; in coincidence with development of ECG signs of LV strain, the performance of both sides of the heart deteriorates. A functional interdependence of the two ventricles is suggested.