Left ventricular function in mild hypertension after adrenergic blockade

We previously used the Doppler transmitral flow velocity ratio A/E (A = late ventricular filling peak velocity; E = early ventricular filling peak velocity) and the age-adjusted ratio A/E/Age to detect left ventricular filling abnormalities in untreated mild hypertension. This study is a double-blind assessment of the effect of combined alpha- and beta-blockade (labetalol) and beta-blockade alone (atenolol) on left ventricular filling in mild hypertension. Twenty-seven patients blindly randomized to labetalol (12 patients) and atenolol (15 patients) treatment completed the echocardiographic and Doppler studies. Clinical and echo-Doppler data obtained at baseline and 6 weeks after initiation of therapy showed no difference between the two groups for age (49 +/- 10 vs 46 +/- 10 years), mean blood pressure (before therapy, 118 +/- 9 vs 117 +/- 8 mm Hg; after therapy, 108 +/- 12 mm Hg), left ventricular dimensions, wall thickness, systolic function, and mean late filling velocity A. There was no significant change in left ventricular mass and mass index with labetalol (left ventricular mass, 211 +/- 36 vs 216 +/- 38; mass index, 110 +/- 17 vs 112 +/- 16) or atenolol (245 +/- 41 vs 271 +/- 65; 120 +/- 18 vs 130 +/- 35). The mean velocity E, A/E, and A/E/Age ratios significantly improved with labetalol (p less than 0.05) but did not change significantly with atenolol. The improvement in A/E and A/E/Age ratios was primarily due to an increase in early filling velocity E.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)