Background
The Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease (ADVANCE) Study demonstrated that a fixed combination of perindopril and indapamide reduced the risk of major vascular events and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes. This Echocardiographic Substudy was designed to determine the effects of this treatment on left ventricular diastolic function and left ventricular mass.
Methods
Five hundred and fifty-five patients entering ADVANCE underwent quantitative echocardiography prior to randomization and after 6 months and 4 years of treatment with perindopril–indapamide or placebo. Main end points were left ventricular diastolic function (ratio of mitral E velocity/early medial mitral annular tissue Doppler velocity, E/Em, and left atrial volume index) and left ventricular mass index.
Results
Overall, blood pressure was reduced in the perindopril–indapamide group compared with placebo. E/Em and left atrial volume index both increased over the 4 years. There was no effect of perindopril–indapamide on E/Em, although there was a small attenuation of the increase in left atrial volume index with active treatment. Left ventricular mass index was reduced by 2.7 g/m2 with active treatment (95% confidence interval −5.0 to −0.1, P = 0.04).
Conclusion
Compared with placebo, the perindopril–indapamide combination reduced blood pressure and left ventricular mass in patients with diabetes, but did not improve left ventricular diastolic function. Left ventricular diastolic function worsened in both groups over 4 years, despite blood pressure reduction and reduction in left ventricular mass. Improving left ventricular diastolic function remains a challenge in patients with diabetes.
