An analysis of cardiac arrhythmias in relation to left ventricular morphology and function was performed in 68 hypertensive patients 60 to 83 years of age. The study comprised Holter monitoring and echocardiography. Our results suggest that in elderly patients with primary arterial hypertension a correlation exists between left ventricular mass and the incidence of ventricular arrhythmias but not between left ventricular mass and supraventricular arrhythmias.