Abstract: Objective To investigate the changes of right ventricular function in essential hypertension by pulse-wave tissue doppler imaging(TDI) and TDI-Tei index.Methods One hundred and forty elderly hypertensive patiens were divided into LVH group(69 patients with left ventricular hypertrophy)and NLVH group(71 patients without left ventricular hypertrophy).Control group consisted of 50 normal subjects.The index of echocardiography,including the tricuspid valve flow velocity during early and late diastole( E,A),ratio of E/A,peak velocities of RV lateral wall site at tricuspid annular during systole,early and late diastole (Sm,Em,Am),ratio of Em/Am and TDI-Tei were measured respectively.Results Compared with normal group,Em [( 8.9 ± 2.4) cm/s,( 11.2 ± 2.5)cm/s] and Em/Am(0.56 ± 0.15,0.76 ± 0.16)in LVH and NLVH groups were statistically different( P < 0.05).TDI-Tei index(0.54 ±0.12,0.41 ±0.08)was statistically different( P <0.05).Compared with normalgroup[( 13.8 ± 2.3 ) cm/s],Sm of LVH group [( 12.3 ± 2.3 ) cm/s] was statistically different ( P < 0.05 ).The TDI-Tei index was negatively correlated with E/A,Em,Em/Am and Sm ( r =-0.412,r =-0.526,r =-0.498,r =-0.371,all P <0.01 ).Conclusions TDI-Tei index,TDI-derived Sm,Em and Em/Am are valuable indexes to evaluate RV dysfunction in hypertension.