Losartan but not atenolol reduce carotid artery hypertrophy in essential hypertension. A LIFE substudy

Background. We wanted to investigate whether treatment with losartan, an angiotensin II receptor blocker, induced regression of carotid artery hypertrophy as compared to the beta-receptor blocker, atenolol. Methods. In 45 patients recruited for the LIFE Study with stage II-III hypertension and ECG left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy, we measured blood pressure, intima-media thickness (IMT) and lumen in the common carotid arteries by ultrasound, and minimal forearm vascular resistance (MFVR) by plethysmography, after 2 weeks of placebo treatment and after 1, 2 and 3 years of anti-hypertensive treatment with either atenolol- or losartan-based regimens. We measured the same parameters in 26 normal subjects matched for age and gender. Results. The patients had as compared to normotensive controls higher IMT (0.87 vs 0.76 mm, p = 0.001) and intima-media cross-sectional area (IMA) (19.7 vs 15.5 mm2, p