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Definition
By Mayo Clinic staffLeft ventricular hypertrophy is enlargement (hypertrophy) of the muscle tissue that makes up the wall of your heart's main pumping chamber (left ventricle).
Left ventricular hypertrophy develops in response to some factor, such as high blood pressure, that requires the left ventricle to work harder. As the workload increases, the walls of the chamber grow thicker, lose elasticity and eventually may fail to pump with as much force as that of a healthy heart.
Left ventricular hypertrophy is more common in people who have uncontrolled high blood pressure or other heart problems. Treating high blood pressure can help ease your symptoms and may reverse the left ventricular hypertrophy.
- Douglas PS, et al. Definition and pathogenesis of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertension. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed May 28, 2012.
- Kaplan NM, et al. Clinical implications and treatment of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertension. http://www.uptodate.com/ index. Accessed May 28, 2012.
- Katholi RE, et al. Left ventricular hypertrophy: Major risk factor in patients with hypertension — Update and practical clinical applications. International Journal of Hypertension. 2011;495349:1.
- Lorell BH, et al. Left ventricular hypertrophy: Pathogenesis, detection, and prognosis. Circulation. 2000;102:470.
- Rawlins J, et al. Left ventricular hypertrophy in athletes. European Journal of Echocardiography. 2009;10:350.
- Artham SM, et al. Clinical impact of left ventricular hypertrophy and implications for regression. Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases. 2009;52:153.
- What is high blood pressure? National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/hbp/. Accessed May 30, 2012.
- Aortic valve stenosis (AS) and aortic insufficiency (AI). American Heart Association. http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/Conditions/CongenitalHeartDefects/AboutCongenitalHeartDefects/Aortic-Valve-Stenosis-AVS_UCM_307020_Article.jsp. Accessed May 30, 2012.
- Gersh BJ, et al. 2011 ACCF/AHA guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy: A report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines. Circulation. 2011;124:e783.
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