[The echocardiogram in arterial hypertension].

Echocardiography seems to be the best non-invasive method for the detection of hypertensive heart disease: it shows early abnormalities of left ventricular compliance, frequently left ventricular hypertrophy and late abnormalities of myocardial contractility. These results are of paramount importance since recent epidemiological data have shown that left ventricular hypertrophy is a factor of severity and should be treated.