What does LVH look like on ECG?
General ECG features include: ≥ QRS amplitude (voltage criteria; i.e., tall R-waves in LV leads, deep S-waves in RV leads) Delayed intrinsicoid deflection in V6 (i.e., time from QRS onset to peak R is ≥ 0.05 sec)
What is LVH in heart?
Left ventricular hypertrophy is a thickening of the wall of the heart’s main pumping chamber. This thickening may result in elevation of pressure within the heart and sometimes poor pumping action. The most common cause is high blood pressure.
Is LVH serious?
Left untreated, LVH (and related underlying heart conditions) increases your risk of serious heart disease or even death. Treatment to slow or stop the progression of left ventricular hypertrophy lowers the risk of severe heart damage.
Is LVH heart failure?
Other than age, left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is the most potent predictor of adverse cardiovascular outcomes in the hypertensive population, and is an independent risk factor for coronary heart disease, sudden death, heart failure and stroke.
How is LVH diagnosed?
Because LVH can develop silently over several years without symptoms, it can be difficult to diagnose. However, a routine electrocardiogram or echocardiogram can usually diagnose LVH, even before symptoms become noticeable. MRI imaging of the heart can also diagnose LVH.
How is LVH diagnosed on Echo?
Echocardiogram can reveal thickened muscle tissue in the left ventricle, blood flow through the heart with each beat, and heart abnormalities related to left ventricular hypertrophy, such as aortic valve stenosis. MRI. Images of your heart can be used to diagnose left ventricular hypertrophy.
What is the best treatment for LVH?
Your doctor might recommend medications including:
- Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. These medications widen blood vessels to lower blood pressure, improve blood flow and decrease the heart’s workload.
- Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs).
- Calcium channel blockers.
- Diuretics.
- Beta blockers.
Can LVH cause death?
Significant left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) increases the risk of sudden cardiac death 6- to 8-fold in men and 3-fold in women. In patients with definite electrocardiographic (ECG) evidence of LVH there is a 59% overall mortality at 12 years.
Is LVH a death sentence?
Typically, LVH resulting from hypertension does not predispose one to sudden death. However, patients who have severe LVH for no apparent reason, a condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, may in some cases have a higher risk of sudden death.
Can you exercise with LVH?
Conclusions: In hypertensive athletes LVH due to hypertension can be reduced and LV-function can be improved by long-term antihypertensive medication despite regular aerobic exercise. Therefore, exercise does not interfere with the regression of LVH on account of antihypertensive therapy in hypertensive subjects.
Can LVH be seen on ECG?
Left ventricular hypertrophy can be diagnosed on ECG with good specificity. When the myocardium is hypertrophied, there is a larger mass of myocardium for electrical activation to pass through; thus the amplitude of the QRS complex, representing ventricular depolarization, is increased.
Is mild LVH serious?
It can be mild or it can be severe, but it definitely needs to be further investigated,” says heart failure specialist Maria Mountis, DO.