Echocardiographic Correlates of Left Atrial Size in Hypertensive Patients

Background: There has been a growing interest in the left atrial structure and function and the vital role it plays in heart diseases. This study set out to access echocardiographic left atrial correlates in hypertensive subjects. This study assessed Echocardiographic Left Atrial Correlates in a hypertensive population attending a tertiary institution. Method: A Prospective cross-sectional study, which recruited hypertensives, non-diabetic subjects, for which Echocardiography was performed using a predefined imaging protocol in the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital, Echocardiogram laboratory after collecting information on demographics, blood pressure, weight and height by an interviewer. Data collected was processed with Excel and SPSS (25) Results: Three hundred and sixty-two subjects who had adequate data were evaluated. 182(50.3%) females and 180(49.7%) males, with mean; age of 55.20 ± 13.77yrs, BMI of 28.86 ± 8.77 kg/m2, systolic and diastolic blood pressures of 143.00 ± 19.08mmHg and 86.34±14.53mmHg respectively. Bivariate correlation using Pearson correlation coefficient showed a significant correlation between Left atrial size/I; LV E/A ratio (.097*), LV internal diameter (.286**), LV relative wall thickness (.129**) and LV Mass/I(241**) Conclusion: This study found significant correlations between left atrial size and various echocardiographic parameters in hypertensive patients, highlighting its role as a marker for left ventricular remodelling and cardiovascular risk. Notably, left atrial enlargement was associated with abnormal diastolic function, increased left ventricular mass, and reduced systolic function. These findings suggest that monitoring left atrial size could be crucial for assessing cardiovascular risk in hypertensive populations.