CARDIOVASCULAR STRUCTURAL ALTERATIONS IN HYPERTENSION - EFFECT OF TREATMENT

Available data support the hypothesis that antihypertensive drugs may determine a significant regression of cardiac and vascular structural changes. Antihypertensive drugs that inhibit the renin-angiotensin or, to a lesser extent, the adrenergic system may more consistently and p romptly reduce left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) and vascular structu ral changes. It is possible that all antihypertensive agents, when use d for long enough periods, will reduce LV mass, whereas only certain d rugs will reduce mass within a period of few months, so that any diffe rence among classes of antihypertensive drugs is more quantitative tha n absolute. However, a rapid reversal of LVH may be particularly impor tant because reducing blood pressure in the presence of an elevated LV mass may be associated with impairment of coronary perfusion. Structu ral changes of small resistance arteries play a significant role in th e genesis of increased vascular resistance in hypertension and in the maintainance of high blood pressure values. Studies in humans have dem onstrated that minimal vascular resistance can be reduced with the use of different antihypertensive drugs, while a complete normalization o f the media:lumen ratio was observed only with ACE inhibitors. Further studies are needed to assess the true clinical impact, in terms of re duced morbidity and mortality of reversal of cardiovascular structural changes in hypertensive patients. However, available studies indicate that reversal of LVH reduces the pathological consequences of increas ed left ventricular mass, and preliminary data suggest that complete r egression of LVH may be associated to a decreased risk for cardiovascu lar events.