RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Relation between plasma amino-terminal propeptide of procollagen type III and left ventricular longitudinal strain in essential hypertension JF Heart JO Heart FD BMJ Publishing Group Ltd and British Cardiovascular Society SP 624 OP 629 DO 10.1136/hrt.2003.029702 VO 91 IS 5 A1 S H Poulsen A1 N H Andersen A1 L Heickendorff A1 C E Mogensen YR 2005 UL http://heart.bmj.com/content/91/5/624.abstract AB Objective: To investigate whether myocardial fibrosis assessed non-invasively is related to left ventricular (LV) longitudinal systolic function in patients with essential hypertension. Design: The study consisted of 30 control subjects and 40 patients with hypertension with normal LV ejection fraction. Tissue Doppler echocardiography was performed to assess LV longitudinal systolic strain from the apical views. Mean strain was calculated from the basal and mid segments. Plasma concentrations of the amino-terminal propeptide of type III procollagen (PIIINP) were measured. Results: In the hypertension group, mean strain was significantly reduced (mean (SD) 13 (6)% v 21 (6)%, p < 0.01) and plasma PIIINP were increased compared with controls (3.0 (0.7) μg/l v 2.1 (0.3) μg/l, p < 0.001). A significant correlation was found between mean strain and PIIINP (r  =  −0.56, p < 0.001). In patients with abnormal diastolic filling (n  =  21) mean strain was reduced compared with patients with normal LV filling (n  =  19) (10 (6)% v 15 (6)%, p < 0.01) and the serological marker PIIINP was increased (3.5 (0.6) μg/l v 2.5 (0.5) μg/l, p < 0.001). Conclusions: There is a significant association between the extent of myocardial fibrosis and reduced LV longitudinal contractility.