Evaluation of demographic, clinical, and aetiological data of patients admitted to cardiology clinics and diagnosed with left ventricular hypertrophy in Turkish population (LVH-TR)

Abstract

Background

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is potentially modifiable cardiovascular risk factor often overlooked in clinical practice. For this reason, we planned to LVH-TR (Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Turkish Population) trial to determine the aetiological causes and demographic characteristics of LVH patients.

Methods

Our study was a multicentre, national, observational study and included 886 patients who applied to the cardiology clinics in 22 centres between February 2020 and August 2021. In the initial evaluation, the Fabry disease (FD) and cardiac amyloidosis (CA) algorithm was followed in patients whose definitive etiologic cause(s) could not be identified.

Results

The most common aetiological causes of LVH in our study were hypertension with a rate of 56.6%, heart valve disease with 8.2%, and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy with 7.5%. Athlete’s heart was detected in eight patients, LV non-compaction was detected in four patients. The rate of LVH of unknown cause was 18.8%. FD was suspected in 143 patients, and CA was suspected in 16 patients. There were 43 (4.85%) patients with low α-galactosidase A enzyme levels. GLA gene mutation analysis was positive in 1.58% of all patients, and these patients were diagnosed with FD, and 15 (1.69%) patients were diagnosed with CA by endomyocardial biopsy method.

Conclusion

In the aetiology of LVH, the rate of LVH of unknown cause was high. FD and CA should be considered primarily in this patient group. Early diagnosis of the disease by following the schemes leading to FD and CA was essential in starting treatment before the progression of the disease.

Keywords:

• Left ventricular hypertrophy
• electrocardiography
• transthoracic echocardiography
• Fabry disease
• amyloidosis

Acknowledgements

The LVH-TR study collaborates; Selvi Oztas, Ahmet Oz, Gulay Gok, Zeynep Kolak, Ercan Aksit, Suleyman Anıl Sarica, Murat Bayrak, Berkay Ekici, Oguzhan Birdal, Berat Uguz, Mesut Gitmez, Fatma Nihan Turhan Caglar, Gul Ilayda Berk, Mustafa Oguz, Ali Nazmi Calik, and Salih Kilic. We thank for their contributions for the preparation of this manuscript. No financial resources have been used for this article.

Patient consent

Written informed consent was obtained from all patients included in the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).