Predictors of diastolic dysfunction in ethnic groups: Observations from the Hypertensive Cohort of The Ethnic-Echocardiographic Heart of England Screening Study (E-ECHOES)

The study aimed to establish a relationship of ethnicity to diastolic dysfunction in subjects of African-Caribbean and South Asian origins and the impact of diastolic dysfunction and ethnicity on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. Hypertensive subjects with ejection fraction ≥55% and no history of ischemic heart disease/valve pathology (n=1546, 830 South Asians and 716 African-Caribbeans) were identified from the Ethnic - Echocardiographic Heart of England Screening Study (E-ECHOES). Diastolic function and cardiac remodelling were measured by echocardiography. African-Caribbean ethnicity was associated with lower prevalence of having diastolic dysfunction (odds ratio 0.67, 95% confidence interval 0.51-0.87, p=0.003) and increased left ventricular filling pressure (odds ratio 0.48, 95% confidence interval 0.34-0.69, p<0.001) as well as lower left atrial index (p<0.001). This was the case despite the fact that African-Caribbean ethnicity was independently associated with higher left ventricular mass index (p<0.001). Ninety-two deaths (6%) occurred during 68±21 months follow up. On Cox regression analysis, South Asian ethnicity (p=0.024) was predictive of all-cause death before adjustment for parameters of diastolic dysfunction, but it was no longer predictive of death after accounting for these variables. South Asian ethnicity is independently associated with worse parameters of diastolic function in hypertension, despite African-Caribbeans having more prominent hypertrophy.