Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor therapy affects left ventricular mass in patients with ejection fraction > 40% after acute myocardial infarction.

OBJECTIVES: We tested the hypothesis that angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor therapy decreases left ventricular (LV) mass in patients with a left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) > 40% and no evidence of heart failure after their first acute Q wave myocardial infarction (MI).

BACKGROUND: Recently, ACE inhibitor therapy has been shown to have an early mortality benefit in unselected patients with acute MI, including patients without heart failure and a LVEF > 35%. However, the effects on LV mass and volume in this patient population have not been studied.

METHODS: Thirty-five patients with a LVEF > 40% after their first acute Q wave MI were randomized to titrated oral ramipril (n = 20) or conventional therapy (control, n = 15). Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) performed an average of 7 days and 3 months after MI provided LV volumes and mass from summated serial short-axis slices.

RESULTS: Left ventricular end-diastolic volume index did not change in ramipril-treated patients (62 +/- 16 [SD] to 66 +/- 17 ml/m2) or in control patients (62 +/- 16 to 68 +/- 17 ml/m2), and stroke volume index increased significantly in both groups. However, LV mass index decreased in ramipril-treated patients (82 +/- 18 to 73 +/- 19 g/m2, p = 0.0002) but not in the control patients (77 +/- 15 to 79 +/- 23 g/m2). Systolic arterial pressure did not change in either group at 3-month follow-up.

CONCLUSIONS: In patients with a LVEF > 40% after acute MI, ramipril decreased LV mass, and blood pressure and LV function were unchanged after 3 months of therapy. Whether the decrease in mass represents a sustained effect that is associated with a decrease in morbid events requires further investigation.