Echocardiographic assessment of ejection fraction in left ventricular hypertrophy.

Objective: To investigate the value of Simpson's rule, Teichholz's formula, and recording of mitral ring motion in assessing left ventricular ejection fraction (EF) in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy.

Design: Left ventricular ejection fraction calculated by Simpson's rule and by Techholz's formula and estimated by mitral ring motion was compared with values obtained by radionuclide angiography.

Setting: Secondary referral centre.

A comparison of 100 mg atenolol and 100 mg metoprolol once a day at rest and during exercise in hypertensives.

The effects of once daily dosage of the two cardioselective beta-adrenoceptor blocking agents, atenolol and metoprolol, were studied in 26 patients with primary hypertension. The study was a randomized double-blind cross-over trial with placebo run-in and wash-out. Assessment of effect was performed about 1 and 25 hours after dosing.

Timolol and hydrochlorothiazide-amiloride in primary hypertension.

Fifty-five patients with primary hypertension, World Health Organization (WHO) stages I and II, were randomly allocated to a 9-mo multicenter, controlled, double-blind, crossover study with timolol, a nonselective beta adrenoceptor blocker, and hydrochlorothiazide combined with the potassium-sparing drug amiloride (AHCT). In 54% of the patients the blood pressure responded to timolol, in 87% to AHCT, and in 91% to a combination of the two. The diurectic was more effective than the beta blocker in patients with low-renin hypertension, who all responded to AHCT.

Clinical and biochemical effects of spironolactone administered once daily in primary hypertension. Multicenter Sweden study.

In a prospective, double-blind, intraindividual, cross-over, placebo-controlled multicenter study, clinical and biochemical effects of once daily postprandial dose regimens of 50, 100, and 200 mg spironolactone were investigated in 45 outpatients with primary hypertension, WHO (World Health Organization) Stage I-II. Each of the three active therapy periods, which were randomly allocated to patients, were of 2 months' duration, with intervening placebo periods, Clinical and biochemical parameters, including furosemide-stimulated plasma renin activity (PRA), were recorded at regular intervals. All three spironolactone doses resulted in statistically significant blood pressure (BP) reductions independent of initial pretreatment levels and yielded satisfactory BP control in more than half of the patients.