Intensive Blood Pressure Lowering Improves Left Ventricular Hypertrophy in Older Patients with Hypertension: The STEP Trial

BACKGROUND: Intensive systolic blood pressure (SBP) lowering has been increasingly used; however, its effect on cardiac remodeling remains not fully understood. This secondary analysis of the Strategy of Blood Pressure Intervention in the Elderly Hypertensive Patients trial aims to determine the changes in left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) that occur in the context of intensive SBP lowering. METHODS: A total of 7141 older patients with hypertension were randomly assigned to intensive treatment (SBP target, 110–130 mm Hg) or standard treatment (130–150 mm Hg). LVH was defined according to the Peguero-Lo Presti criteria on a standard 12-lead ECG. RESULTS: At baseline, the prevalence of LVH (16.6% versus 16.5%) and the mean Peguero-Lo Presti value (1811 versus 1808 μV) were comparable between the treatment groups. During a median follow-up of 3.24 years, intensive SBP lowering was associated with a significantly lower risk of new LVH occurrence (hazard ratio, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.66–0.89]; P=0.001) and slower progression of the mean Peguero-Lo Presti index value by −23.47 μV/y (95% CI, −34.93 to −12.01; P=0.000). However, the rates of regression of baseline LVH did not differ significantly. Notably, the beneficial effect of intensive SBP lowering in terms of cardiovascular events (hazard ratio, 0.75 [95% CI, 0.59–0.97]) was not markedly attenuated after adjusting for LVH as a time-varying covariate (hazard ratio, 0.76 [95% CI, 0.59–0.97]). CONCLUSIONS: Intensive SBP lowering protects against LVH development in older hypertensive patients, however, this favorable effect could not explain most of the reduction in cardiovascular events associated with intensive SBP lowering.