Treatment of diastolic dysfunction in hypertensive patients without left ventricular hypertrophy

The aim of this study was to evaluate the influence of verapamil SR 240 mg (V) and the combination amiloride 5 mg + hydrochlorothiazide 50 mg (AH) on diastolic dysfunction of hypertensive patients without left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Twenty-six hypertensive patients with diastolic dysfunction, normal systolic function and without LVH were included into a 2-week washout period and then randomised to a 6-month V or AH treatment. One blinded-to-treatment echocardiographist at baseline and at weeks 4, 12 and 24 assessed Doppler-echocardiography. Both V and AH, satisfactorily controlled blood pressure, but only V improved diastolic function shown by a tendency to reduce peak A and to increase peak E/A ratio, and by a significant reduction in deceleration time. After 24 weeks, V significantly reduced wall thickness in comparison with AH. These results need to be confirmed in a larger scale study.