Regression of left ventricular hypertrophy in the short-term treatment of hypertension with isradipine.

This was a study of the effectiveness of isradipine, a calcium antagonist of the dihydropyridine group, in reversing left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension. Mean arterial pressure was effectively reduced at 90 days of treatment (from 129.5 +/- 2.0 to 111.5 +/- 2.8 mm Hg; P less than .001). The electrocardiographic Romhilt-Estes score for LVH showed early reduction at 45 days of treatment (from 7.1 +/- 0.6 to 5.1 +/- 0.4 points; P less than .001), and further diminutions were observed at 90 days of treatment (3.8 +/- 0.4 points; P less than .01). The echocardiographically determined left ventricular mass indices confirmed these findings (from 175.0 +/- 8.9 to 141.7 +/- 5.5 and to 124.8 +/- 4.2 g/m2; P less than .001) for 45 and 90 days, respectively. The results indicate that isradipine is effective in reducing left ventricular mass and that these reductions are observed early in the course of treatment.