¹Department of Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Östra, Göteborg, Sweden

Correspondence: Professor B Dahlöf, Department of Medicine, Sahlgrenska University Hospital/Östra, Göteborg SE 41685, Sweden. E-mail: bjorn.dahlof@scri.se

Abstract

Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) is a powerful independent risk predictor for cardiovascular disease and reversal of LVH has become a primary goal of antihypertensive management. Recent evidence has confirmed that most hypertensive patients will benefit from a low-dose combination strategy to manage their hypertension, and two trials have recently examined the effect of this strategy on left ventricular mass. The REASON study (pREterax in regression of Arterial Stiffness in a contrOlled double-bliNd study) compared the low-dose combination of an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor and a diuretic with -blocker monotherapy in hypertensive patients with LVH, and the PICXEL study (Preterax In a double-blind Controlled study versus Enalapril in LVH) compared the same low-dose combination with ACE inhibitor monotherapy in hypertensive patients with echocardiographic LVH. The REASON study demonstrated that the low-dose combination produced a significantly greater change in left ventricular mass after 1 year than the -blocker, despite inducing a similar change in mean blood pressure. Additionally, perindopril/indapamide reduced central (carotid) and peripheral (brachial) systolic blood pressure (SBP) and pulse pressure (PP) to a significantly greater extent than -blocker, and these benefits were more pronounced for the central values; LVH is affected more by central rather than peripheral haemodynamic changes. Results of the analysis of the PICXEL study showed a significantly greater decrease in LVH parameters and blood pressure over 1 year in favour of the low-dose combination. This reduction cannot be entirely explained by the better efficacy of the low-dose combination on blood pressure reduction.