[Effect of cilazapril in patients with essential hypertension: effect on cardiac hypertrophy]

Numerous antihypertensive drugs exist with different modes of action, which have a really effective impact on hypertension. The life expectancy of hypertensive patients is known to depend on the degree of damage caused to their target organs by the hypertension itself. Cardiovascular hypertrophy and its complications are considered to be among the major elements of this process. This work evaluates the effectiveness of the long-term treatment of essential hypertensive subjects (n = 10) with a long-acting ACE-inhibitor, cilazapril, as concerns their blood pressure and cardiac hypertrophy. Cilazapril given orally in a daily dose of 2.5 mg effectively lowered both the systolic (delta 30 mm Hg) and the diastolic (delta 19 mm Hg) blood pressure. No changes were found in body weight or heart rate, and only one side-effects (skin rash) was reported. Cilazapril considerably decreased the left ventricular mass and hence the hypertrophic index of hypertensive patients with cardiac hypertrophy, suggesting that ACE inhibitors are effective not only in lowering blood pressure and decreasing hypertrophy, but also in lowering the cardiac morbidity and mortality.