[Arterial hypertension: clinical significance of U wave inversion in electrocardiogram].

Negative U wave is usually observed in ischemic heart disease, left ventricular hypertrophy and in chronic cor pulmonale, sometimes in association with electrolytic imbalance or toxic effects of drugs. We assessed by ECG and echocardiography 559 patients with longstanding arterial hypertension. Negative U wave was significantly more frequent in patients with increased left ventricular mass and/or with congestive heart failure, particularly in the middle-age hypertension group. Negative U wave appears to be an ECG sign closely associated with the anatomical evolution toward hypertensive heart disease with hypertrophy and/or congestive heart failure.