The arterioles in the kidneys and pancreas in 50 consecutive necropsy cases of cardiac hypertrophy of undetermined cause and in 50 control cases were measured and studied histopathologically in an effort to determine the cause of the cardiac hypertrophy. The weight of the heart, the ventricle affected by hypertrophy and the age of the patient also were recorded in each case and correlated with the changes in the ratio of the wall to lumen in the arterioles. This study revealed that in about 40 per cent of cases the cardiac hypertrophy was probably due to antecedent hypertension.