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(Hypertension. 2008;51:e58.)
© 2008 American Heart Association, Inc.

Letters to the Editor

Gender Differences in Left Ventricular Hypertrophy Regression

Department of Cardiology, Hospital Infanta Sofia, Madrid, Spain

Vivencio Barrios

Department of Cardiology, Hospital Ramón y Cajal, Madrid, Spain

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

To the Editor:

We read with interest the article of Os et al¹ about the effects of losartan in women with hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy from the Losartan Intervention For Endpoint reduction in hypertension (LIFE) Study. The main finding in this posthoc analysis was that, compared with atenolol-based treatment, losartan-based therapy resulted in fewer overall cardiovascular events and strokes, reduced total mortality, and less new-onset diabetes in women with hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH). Overall, fewer events occurred in women than in men. A gender difference in the primary composite end point was observed even after adjustment for baseline characteristics: 476 women (9.6%) and 620 men (14.7%; P<0.001) experienced a primary end point. Furthermore, all of the secondary end points tended to occur less frequently in women.

These treatment effects occurred in the absence of major differences in blood pressure control and seem to be related to mechanisms other than blood pressure lowering. Regression of ECG-LVH reduces cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Notably, losartan-based antihypertensive treatment resulted in a greater regression of ECG-LVH than did atenolol-based therapy in the LIFE Study, and this was consistent for gender subgroups.² However, in the LIFE Study, Okin et al³ reported that women had less regression of ECG-LVH than men, independent of baseline gender differences in the severity of LVH and after taking into account treatment effects.

How is possible that, whereas there is greater ECG-LVH regression in men, there are fewer events in women? Two studies analyzed the effects of a . . . [Full Text of this Article]

This article has been cited by other articles:

				I. Os, R. B. Devereux, and P. M. Okin Response to Gender Differences in Left Ventricular Hypertrophy Regression Hypertension, June 1, 2008; 51(6): e59 - e59. [Full Text] [PDF]