Effects of Losartan on Cardiovascular Morbidity and Mortality in Patients With Isolated Systolic Hypertension and Left Ventricular Hypertrophy

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Abstract
As described previously,1 the Losartan Intervention For Endpoint reduction (LIFE) study was designed in the early 1990s when (1) reduction of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality with β-blocker- or diuretic-based antihypertensive therapy was suboptimal,2-5 (2) left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was a cardinal manifestation of preclinical CV disease and was a strong and independent risk factor for CV complications in hypertension, (3) indications that reversal of LVH was thought to have had prognostic benefit independent of blood pressure,6,7 (4) there was an association of angiotensin II with development of LVH, and (5) suggestive evidence that blocking angiotensin II was thought to be especially effective in reversing LVH and could confer protective benefits over and above blood pressure lowering.8