Dipyridamole-echocardiography test in essential hypertensives with chest pain and angiographically normal coronary arteries.

Microvascular angina--chest pain syndrome in the presence of angiographically normal epicardial coronary arteries and reduced flow reserve--has been described in patients with essential hypertension (EH) and linked to the development of left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). We performed a dipyridamole-echocardiography test (DET: 2D-echo and 12 lead ECG monitoring with dipyridamole infusion, up to 0.84 mg/kg over ten minutes) in 28 essential hypertensives meeting the following inclusion criteria: (1) history of chest pain; (2) angiographically normal coronary arteries; (3) normal resting regional and global left ventricular function. A group of 12 (age- and sex-matched) normotensives with the same inclusion criteria, as well as with negative exercise stress test, was also evaluated. During DET, none of the essential hypertensives or the control group developed a regional dyssynergy of contraction. Fifteen essential hypertensives and two in the control group had a diagnostic (greater than 0.1 mV from baseline) ST segment depression on ECG tracing (54 v 17%, P less than .01); 16 essential hypertensives and two in the control group had chest pain (57 v 17%, P less than .01). None of the control group and nine of the essential hypertensives had echocardiographically assessed LVH. In the essential hypertensive group ventricular hypertrophy was present in seven of 20 patients with and in two of eight patients without dipyridamole induced chest pain and/or ST segment depression (35% v 25%, P = NS). In conclusion, essential hypertensive patients with chest pain and angiographically normal coronary arteries frequently show echocardiographically silent angina and/or ST segment depression during DET.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)