Abstract
Background: Recent reports have evidenced an increased mortality rate in hypertensive patients with electrocardiographic left ventricular hypertrophy (ECG-LVH) achieving systolic blood pressure (SBP) <130 mmHg. However, to the best of our knowledge, the actual effects of blood pressure reduction to the ≤130/80 mmHg target on the incidence of cardiovascular (CV) events have never been determined in hypertensive patients with a diagnosis of left ventricular hypertrophy based on echocardiographic criteria (Echo-LVH). Methods: To fill this long-standing knowledge gap, we harnessed a population of 9511 hypertensive patients, followed-up for 33.6 [interquartile range 7.9-72.7] months. The population was divided into six groups according to the average SBP achieved during the follow-up (≤130, 130-139, and ≥140 mmHg) and absence/presence of Echo-LVH. The primary endpoint was a composite of fatal or nonfatal myocardial infarction and stroke, sudden cardiac death, heart failure requiring hospitalization, revascularization, and carotid stenting. Secondary endpoints included atrial fibrillation and transient ischemic attack. Results: During the follow-up, achieved SBP and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were comparable between patients with and without Echo-LVH. Strikingly, the rates of primary and secondary endpoints were significantly higher in patients with Echo-LVH and SBP >130 mmHg, reaching the highest values in the Echo-LVH group with SBP ≥140 mmHg. By separate Cox multivariable regressions, after adjusting for potential confounders, both primary and secondary endpoints were significantly associated with SBP ≥140 mmHg and Echo-LVH. Instead, DBP reduction ≤80 mmHg was associated with a significant increased rate of secondary events. Conclusions: In hypertensive patients with Echo-LVH, achieving an average in-treatment SBP target ≤130 mmHg has a beneficial prognostic impact on incidence of CV events. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT: Contrary to recent findings, achieving in-treatment SBP ≤130 mmHg lowers the incidence of CV events in hypertensive patients with Echo-LVH. However, reducing DBP ≤80 mmHg is linked to increased CV complications. Cox multivariable regression models, considering potential confounders, reveal that the rate of hard and soft CV events is significantly associated with Echo-LVH and SBP ≥140 mmHg. Our data indicate that therapeutic strategies for Echo-LVH patients should target SBP ≤130 mmHg while avoiding lowering DBP ≤80 mmHg.