Heart Transplant Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Heart Transplant, including details on risks, prognosis, procedure, surgery, organ donation.

The effect of combined Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition and calcium antagonism on allograft coronary vasculopathy validated by intravascular ultrasound.

Erinc K, Yamani MH, Starling RC, Crowe T, Hobbs R, Bott-Silverman C, Rincon G, Young JB, Feng J, Cook DJ, Smedira N, Tuzcu EM

Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, The Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Kaufman Center for Heart Failure, OH 44195, USA.

BACKGROUND: Hypertension is a potential risk factor for allograft coronary vasculopathy. We evaluated the efficacy of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and calcium antagonists, and their combined use, on the development of coronary vasculopathy in hypertensive heart transplant recipients. METHODS: Eighty-two heart transplant recipients underwent serial intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) analysis at baseline (within 1 month) and at 1 year after transplantation and were evaluated for the development of coronary vasculopathy. Patients were divided into 4 groups. Nineteen normotensive recipients received no treatment, control (Group A). Hypertensive patients were treated with either ACE inhibitors (Group B, n = 37), calcium antagonists (Group C, n = 16), or both (Group D, n = 10). RESULTS: We found a significant reduction in IVUS indices of coronary vasculopathy in heart transplant recipients who used a combination of an ACE inhibitor and a calcium antagonist compared with recipients who used either drug alone (p < 0.05). This synergistic efficacy was independent of the baseline indices evaluated in a multivariate regression analysis model and was noted despite comparable mean arterial pressure among the 3 hypertensive groups at 1 year, thus suggesting the presence of a synergistic anti-proliferative effect beyond the anti-hypertensive efficacy. CONCLUSIONS: The combined use of an ACE inhibitor and a calcium antagonist is more effective than the individual use of either drug alone on the development of coronary vasculopathy in cardiac transplant recipients. Large randomized clinical trials are warranted to evaluate such a synergistic efficacy.

Published 16 August 2005 in J Heart Lung Transplant, 24(8): 1033-8.
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