Electrocardiographic Measures of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in the Antihypertensive and Lipid-Lowering to Prevent Heart Attack Trial

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) predicts cardiovascular risk in hypertensive patients. We analyzed baseline/follow-up ECGs in 26,376 ALLHAT participants randomized to amlodipine (A), lisinopril (L), or chlorthalidone (C). Prevalent/incident LVH were examined using continuous and categorical classifications of Cornell voltage. At 2and 4-years, prevalence of LVH in the Cgroup (5.57%; 6.14%) was not statistically different from A-group (2-years: 5.47%; p=0.806, 4years: 6.54%; p=0.857), or L-group (2-years: 5.64%; p=0.857, 4-years: 6.50%; p=0.430). Incident LVH followed similarly, with no difference at 2-years for C (2.99%) compared to A (2.57%; p=0.173) or L (3.16%; p=0.605), and at 4-years (C=3.52%, A=3.29%, L=3.71%; p=0.521 C vs A, p=0.618 C vs L). Mean Cornell voltage decreased comparably across treatment groups (Δ baseline, 2-years = +3 to -27 μV, ANOVA p=0.8612; 4-years = +10 to -17 μV, ANOVA p=0.9692). We conclude that risk reductions associated with C treatment in secondary endpoints of ALLHAT cannot be attributed to differential improvements in ECG LVH.

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