In essential hypertensive patients, newer classification method according to the left ventricular remodeling is gaining more clinical acceptance, and as such it requires further domestic researches.

The echocardiographys of 110 normal control population (43 males and 67 females) and 137 essential hypertensive patients (44 males and 93 females) were done, and by applying Penn convention method, the left ventricular mass was calculated and was corrected by body surface area to determine the left ventricular mass index. Afterward, according to the criteria by American Society of Echocardiography, the relative ventricular wall thickness was calculated. With the estimated left ventricular mass index and the relative ventricular thickness of normal control population's upper limit, the patterns of left ventricular remodeling of essential hypertensive patients were classified and analyzed.

1) In normal control group, males exhibited higher left ventricular mass index tendency than females (p=0.053) and showed similar increase with age (p=0.006). Also, the partition value of left ventricular mass index was less than 125 g/m for male and 110 g/m for female. 2) The relative ventricular wall thickness of normal control group showed similar tendency in which males had thicker ventricular wall than females. Also, the thickness increased with age, however it lacked statistical significance. The partition value of relative ventricular wall thickness was less than 0.44. 3) Among hospitalized essential hypertensive patients, the frequency of concentric left ventricular hypertrophy was 57%, eccentric left ventricular hypertrophy was 29%, concentric remodeling was 11%, and normal was 4%. Thus, the findings showed more progressed left ventricular remodeling.

The normal population of Korea exhibited similar left ventricular mass index and relative ventricular wall thickness as compared to foreigners, and hospitalized essential hypertensive patients had rather progressed left ventricular remodeling.