[Effects of verapamil on left ventricular mass and diastolic function in hypertensive patients]

To evaluate the effects of antihypertensive therapy with verapamil on left ventricular (LV) mass, systolic and diastolic function, 12 hypertensive patients, mean age 44 years, were studied during 12 months of treatment with verapamil, in a gradual release from (240-480 mg/day), by serial recordings of ECG, blood pressure (BP) and echocardiogram. In pretreatment conditions, 8 patients showed LV hypertrophy and 2 patients impaired LV diastolic function. Blood pressure decreased significantly after 1 month of therapy, septal and LV posterior wall thickness after 3 months and LV mass after 6 months. No significant changes were observed in LV fractional shortening and diastolic transmitral flow. At the end of the study BP normalized in 8 patients and LV mass in 1 patient. Left ventricular diastolic function was normalized in 1 patient but became worse in another, in spite of the reduction in BP and LV mass. Thus, verapamil was an effective antihypertensive drug and was able to revert hypertensive LV hypertrophy. However, the behaviour of LV diastolic function seems to be independent of the effects of the drug on BP and LV mass. Further studies are necessary to clarify this problem.