Effect of acebutolol on left ventricular hemodynamics and anatomy in systemic hypertension

Abstract

In 18 patients with mild or moderate essential hypertension who responded favorably to acebutolol antihypertensive therapy, echocardiography (echo) was performed in the basal condition and after 6 and 12 months of follow-up. Acebutolol induced a significant decrease in blood pressure (BP), from a basal value of 167 ± 3 105 ± 2 mm Hg to 138 ± 5 90 ± 2 mm Hg after 6 months (p < 0.01) and to 134 ± 3 91 ± 3 mm Hg after 1 year (p < 0.01) and in heart rate, from 75 ± 3 to 63 ± 2 beats/min after 6 months (p < 0.01) and to 63 ± 2 beats/min after 1 year (p < 0.01). The decrease in BP was achieved through a decrease in cardiac output from 6.3 ± 0.28 to 5.3 ± 0.25 liters/min after 6 months (p < 0.05) and to 5.32 ± 0.2 liters/min after 1 year (p < 0.05), which resulted from a reduction in heart rate; stroke volume did not show significant change during the treatment and left ventricular (LV) performance was improved. There was a parallel decrease in LV posterior wall and ventricular septal thicknesses and estimated LV mass. In patients with LV hypertrophy, the change in mass was significantly correlated with the change in heart rate both after 6 and 12 months of therapy (r = 0.6234, p < 0.05 and r = 0.7121, p < 0.05 after 6 and 12 months, respectively).