Effects of antihypertensive treatment on the relaxation of the left ventricle in hypertensive patients

: To increase our understanding of the interaction between anti-hypertensive drug therapy and left ventricular filling, 23 hypertensive patients (DBP 100 +/- 4 mmHg) had their myocardial mass measured and underwent gamma-angiography (determination of maximum volume of filling, MVF, end-diastolic volume/s-1, and the maximum time for filling, MTF, ms) before and after therapy with propranolol (100 mg/d), captopril (50 mg/d), nitrendipine (28 mg/day) or xipamide (20 mg/d). Blood pressure was recorded in the four treatment groups, and myocardial mass regressed only in those treated with propranolol or nitrendipine. Only the latter drug acts simultaneously on MVF (2.19 +/- 0.22 vs 2.47 +/- 0.43 EDV/s -1) and MTF (221 +/- 21 vs 192 +/- 20 ms) significantly (p less than 0.05). Xipamide only improved MTF (228 +/- 28 vs 209 +/- 20 ms; p less than 0.05). These data compared to those of the literature demonstrate the variability in the antihypertensive effects on ventricular filling, while its improvement may be proposed as a usual objective in treatment of hypertensive disease.