Systolic time intervals as possible predictors of pressure response to sustained beta-adrenergic blockade in arterial hypertension. A within-patient, placebo-controlled study.

Systolic time intervals (STI) were recorded at rest and during isometric exercise (IHG) in 20 hypertensive outpatients, WHO Stage 1 or 2. In a double-blind crossover study, slow-release metoprolol 200 mg once daily and matched placebo were given for 4 weeks each, at the end of a 2-week placebo washout. Blood pressure and STI were taken in the last day of washout and of either crossover period. Treatment decreased blood pressure and heart rate values at rest and on peak IHG; it didn't modify preejection period index (PEPI), left ventricular ejection time index (LVETI), and their ratio at rest, but decreased the ratio between diastolic blood pressure and PEPI (DBP/PEPI ratio) at rest and on peak IHG and lengthened the PEPI at peak IHG. Resting PEPI values on placebo treatment showed a negative correlation with systolic (r = -0.72) as well as diastolic (r = -0.80) pressure reduction on slow-release metoprolol as compared with placebo treatment. The PEP/LVET ratio at rest on placebo treatment showed a negative correlation with systolic (r = -0.78) as well as diastolic (r = -0.82) pressure reduction at rest on metoprolol compared with placebo treatment. Patients with a resting PEP/LVET ratio less than 0.43 showed a reduction in both systolic and diastolic pressure approximating or exceeding 20 mm Hg, whereas patients with a PEP/LVET ratio greater than 0.47 showed a decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure of less than 10 mm Hg. In patients with a PEP/LVET ratio of 0.43 to 0.47 (50% of the trial population), STI didn't show any correlation with the pressure response to beta-blockade. A positive correlation was found between the DBP/PEPI ratio at rest on placebo treatment and systolic (r = 0.56) as well as diastolic (r = 0.76) pressure reduction at rest on slow-release metoprolol compared with placebo treatment. Thus, STI appeared as promising predictors of the magnitude of blood pressure response to sustained beta-blocking therapy in mild-to-moderate essential hypertension, mostly in patients with a resting PEP/LVET ratio less then 0.43 or greater then 0.47.