A comparison of the effects of mibefradil and atenolol on regression of left ventricular hypertrophy in hypertensive patients

Objective: This study was designed to compare the effect of mibefradil, a selective T-type calcium channel antagonist, with the beta-blocker atenolol on regression of left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy in hypertensive patients. Methods: In this multicenter, double-blind, active-controlled, randomized, parallel-group comparison, 66 patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension (sitting diastolic blood pressure, SDBP, 95-114 mm Hg) and LV mass index >102 g/m(2) for males and >88 g/m(2) for females were randomized to an initial treatment with 50 mg of either mibefradil or atenolol for 4 weeks. Doses were increased to 100 mg/day if blood pressure was not normalized to less than or equal to 90 mm Hg, and, if needed, 25 mg of hydrochlorothiazide was added. Treatment continued for a total of 24 weeks. LV hypertrophy was assessed by echocardiography, and trough SDBP and adverse events were recorded. Results: Treatment with mibefradil or atenolol resulted in decreases from baseline in LV mass index of 11.1%(p < 0.001) and 9.1% (p < 0.001), respectively. The treatment difference (mibefradil vs. atenolol) was not statistically significant. Reductions in SDBP with mibefradil and atenolol were 14.3 and 10.7 mm Hg, respectively, again not statistically significant. Both drugs were well tolerated; however, overall there were more potentially drug-related adverse events reported with atenolol(48.5%) than with mibefradil(24.2%). Conclusions: The reductions in LV hypertrophy and blood pressure achieved with mibefradil were larger but statistically equivalent to those with atenolol, but a lower overall incidence of treatment-related adverse events was seen in the mibefradil-treated patients.