Effect of enalapril on left ventricular mass and performance in essential hypertension

The effect of enalapril on left ventricular (LV) morphology and function was studied in 12 hypertensive patients. The subjects were evaluated after 2 weeks of placebo and after 4 months of treatment with enalapril (20 or 40 mg once daily), using M-mode digitized echocardiograms. The drug reduced arterial blood pressure in all patients. Systemic vascular resistance decreased significantly without changes in cardiac output and heart rate. No patient had significant side effects. After treatment LV mass decreased significantly (233 ± 46 to 204 ± 37 g, p <0.01); the reduction was due to a decrease in septal and posterior wall thickness, without changes in LV diameter. LV systolic function remained unchanged, whereas peak lengthening rate of LV dimension, an index of LV diastolic function, increased significantly (4.05 ± 1.8 to 5.11 ± 1.8 s^-1, p <0.01). After treatment the basal inverse correlation between peak shortening rate and wall stress did not change, the inverse correlation between peak lengthening rate and wall stress became closer and the basal inverse correlation between peak lengthening rate and LV mass disappeared. In conclusion, antihypertensive treatment with enalapril led to a significant regression of LV hypertrophy associated with improvement in LV diastolic performance and no deterioration of LV systolic function.