Reversal of left ventricular hypertrophy following treatment with beta-blockers: experience with tertatolol.

Hypertrophy in response to increasing blood pressure in primary hypertension leads to important functional consequences for the left ventricle. In fact, the progression of hypertensive heart disease, from an adaptive left ventricular hypertrophy with compensated ventricular function to severe hypertrophy with left ventricular failure, has been long thought to be related to the severity and duration of hypertension. Antihypertensive treatment seems to prevent or minimize the occurrence of left ventricular hypertrophy, but questions arise as to whether this therapy is also able to restore normal hemodynamic conditions, or at least to minimize the hemodynamic abnormalities. This review aims at summarizing current knowledge on the effects of the antihypertensive treatment with beta-blockers, including tertatolol, on hypertension-induced left ventricular hypertrophy. The pathogenetic mechanisms underlying the cardiovascular changes associated with hypertension are discussed. A decrease in left ventricular wall thickness as well as in left ventricular mass has been reported in most of the studies performed with different types of beta-adrenergic blocking agents. The extent of this reduction seems to be related not only to the fall in systemic blood pressure, but also to a decrease in sympathetic stimulation. With regard to the functional consequences of hypertension, the reversal of left ventricular hypertrophy following antihypertensive treatment with beta-blockers is usually associated with an improvement in left ventricular performance. This phenomenon can hardly be ascribed to the direct effects of beta-blocking agents. It is more likely to be related to the concomitant reduction in the afterload and to the improved left ventricular compliance, associated with a decrease in left ventricular wall thickness.