Free
E-newsletter
Subscribe to Housecall
Our weekly general interest
e-newsletter keeps you up to date
on a wide variety of health topics.
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staffIf you have signs and symptoms associated with heart disease — such as shortness of breath, chest pain, palpitations or others — your doctor will examine your heart function and choose the best treatment.
If you have high blood pressure, your doctor may order heart-related tests as part of the ongoing management of the condition.
Screening tests for left ventricular hypertrophy include:
- Electrocardiogram. An electrocardiogram — also called an ECG or EKG — records electrical signals as they travel through your heart. Your doctor can look for patterns among these signals that indicate abnormal heart function and increased left ventricle muscle tissue.
-
Echocardiogram. An echocardiogram uses sound waves to produce live-action images of the heart. This common test enables your doctor to watch your ventricles squeezing and relaxing and valves opening and closing in rhythm with your heartbeat.
The echocardiogram is a primary tool for diagnosing left ventricular hypertrophy. If you have left ventricular hypertrophy, your doctor will be able to see thickening of muscle tissue in the left ventricle. An echocardiogram can also reveal how much blood is pumped from the heart with each beat and how stiff the heart muscle is. It may also show related heart abnormalities, such as aortic valve stenosis.
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Magnetic resonance imaging is a technique that uses a magnetic field and radio waves to create images of soft tissues in the body. It can be used to produce a thin cross-sectional "slice" of your heart or a 3-D image. Cardiovascular MRI can be used to diagnose left ventricular hypertrophy. However, this test is more expensive than echocardiography and may not be available everywhere.
- 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.
Find Mayo Clinic on