The heart function during general anesthesia in patients with or without hypertension through echocardiography.

Objective: To explore the heart function by echocardiography during induction of General anesthesia with or without hypertension.

Design: Thirty-seven subjects were enrolled to this study. According to blood pressure, patients were allocated to normal group (n=18) and hypertension group (n=19). The Hitachi HI VISION PREIRUS color echocardiography system was used to trace heart function before and after General anesthesia.

Setting: Affiliated Hospital of a University.

Results: Before and after General anesthesia in the normal group, the E peak and Aa peak were reduced, and the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). The other indexes were not statistically significant. E peak, A peak, Ea peak, and Aa peak were reduced, and the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05) before and after General anesthesia in the hypertension group. The left atrial function, left atrial duct function, and left atrial pump function reduced after General anesthesia in hypertension group, and the differences were statistically significant (P <0.05). And there was no significant difference in the Tei index which reflected whole cardiac function after General anesthesia.

The main findings: In the hypertension group, the left atrial function was influenced during the induction of General anesthesia compared with normal group.

Conclusions: The effect of General anesthesia on the atrium is greater than that of the ventricle.