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Assessment of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy: A Comparison of Electrocardiography, Echocardiography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

Part of the book series: Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine ((DICM,volume 223))

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Summary

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) can be morphologically described as an increase in muscle mass of the left ventricle (LV).1 Three common approaches used to determine LVH are the electrocardiogram (ECG), the echocardiogram and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). There are differences in the results obtained by all three techniques as illustrated by the fact that LVH prevalence in the general population increases with age by approximately 1 to 10% if determined using ECG,2 and from 5 to almost 50% according to echocardiographic data.3 It has also been demonstrated that echocardiography is considerably less precise in measuring LV mass than MRI, and is therefore considerably less reliable. This suggests that echocardiography would be better for measuring changes in LV mass in groups of patients, but is limited in its use for clinical evaluation of the individual patient.

The ECG is widely used in primary screening procedures since it requires relatively little expertise, is cheap and the results are easy to interpret. MRI provides highly accurate LV mass easurements and permits tissue imaging but its use is limited by restricted availability, fixed facilities and claustrophobia-inducing effects.

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Authors
  1. A. J. Brees
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  2. B. M. Pluim
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  3. H. W. Vliegen
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  4. A. de Roos
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  5. H. J. Lamb
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  6. E. E. van der Wall
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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Brees, A.J., Pluim, B.M., Vliegen, H.W., de Roos, A., Lamb, H.J., van der Wall, E.E. (1999). Assessment of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy: A Comparison of Electrocardiography, Echocardiography and Magnetic Resonance Imaging. In: Left Ventricular Hypertrophy. Developments in Cardiovascular Medicine, vol 223. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4279-3_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4279-3_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5855-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4279-3

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