Prevalence of left ventricular hypertrophy and cardiac arrhythmias in borderline hypertension.

Seventy-eight men with borderline hypertension according to the World Health Organization criteria underwent echocardiographic examination, followed by simultaneous ambulatory blood pressure and electrocardiographic monitorings for 24 h. The prevalence of echocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy was 16.6% (13/78). Borderline hypertensives with left ventricular hypertrophy had more supraventricular (P less than .001) and ventricular ectopic beats (P less than .001) than normotensive controls and borderline hypertensives without cardiac involvement. Furthermore, ventricular ectopic activity was significantly related to left ventricular mass (r = 0.58, P less than .05) in borderline hypertensives showing echocardiographic evidence of left ventricular hypertrophy. Our findings suggest that noninvasive assessment of target organ status, including echocardiography, should be employed to optimize risk stratification in borderline hypertension.