Introduction:

The electrocardiogram is the first test that offers data to determine the existence of left ventricular hypertrophy in arterial hypertension.

Objective:

To determine the diagnostic value of the electrocardiographic criteria of left ventricular hypertrophy compared to transthoracic echocardiography in adults with hypertension.

Material and method:

Observational, descriptive, retrospective cross-sectional design, diagnostic test type, which included adult patients diagnosed with arterial hypertension admitted to the Third Department of Medical Clinic from January 2017 to June 2018. Demographic variables, electrocardiographic and echocardiographic criteria of left ventricular hypertrophy were determined.

Results:

One hundred fifty patients were included, 84 (56%) were women, the mean age was 60±16 years, 103 (68.6%) had mild ventricular hypertrophy, 45 (30%) moderate and 2 (1.3%) severe. In patients with mild ventricular hypertrophy, a sensitivity of 8.7% was obtained for Sokolow-Lyon criteria and a specificity of 76.6% while for Cornell criteria the sensitivity was 17.4% and the specificity 53.1%. In moderate ventricular hypertrophy, the sensitivity was 22.2% and the specificity 90.4% for Sokolow-Lyon while for Cornell the sensitivity was 46.6% and specificity 73.6%. In severe ventricular hypertrophy, the sensitivity was 50% and the specificity 87.1% for the Sokolow-Lyon criterion while the sensitivity was 50% and the specificity 73.6% for the Cornell criterion.

Conclusion:

The best performance electrocardiographic criteria for determining left ventricular hypertrophy were those of Cornell. The Sokolow-Lyon and Cornell criteria were effective for a degree of severe hypertrophy.

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