ORIGINAL ARTICLES   

Minerva Medica 2005 October;96(5):365-72

Copyright © 2005 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Correlations of smoothness index and trough-to-peak ratio with left ventricular mass index changes induced by lercanidipine in hypertensive patients. A pilot trial

Campo C., Saavedra J., Segura J., Roldán C., Ruilope L. M., Parati G.

Aim. The aim of this study was to determine the correlation of changes in left ventricular mass, with changes in office blood pressure (BP) and in 24-h ambulatory (ABP), with the trough-to-peak (T/P) ratio and with the smoothness index (SI), as induced by antihypertensive treatment with lercanidipine.
Methods. This was done through an observational, prospective, open, non-comparative, single centre, pilot study in patients naïve to antihypertensive therapy. All patients were treated with lercanidipine 10-20 mg/day plus hydrochlorothiazide 12.5-25 mg/day if treated BP exceeded an arbitrarily defined safety level (>160/100 mmHg) after 1 month on monotherapy. ABP monitoring was repeated after 1 month and after 6 months. Two-dimensional mode echocardiography was performed twice, at the beginning and end of the study. Seventeen patients were included in the final analysis (aged 45.8 ± 10.7 years, 35% women).
Results. Treatment-induced changes in left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were not found to correlate neither with changes in office BP, with changes in ABP values, nor with T/P. However, a significant correlation was found between LVMI changes and SI at 6 months (r=0.50, P=0.039).
Conclusion. The results of this study suggest that the SI has a higher predictive value, compared to other BP-derived parameters, for treatment-induced LVMI changes, in hypertensive patients treated with lercanidipine.