[Utility of verapamil in the treatment of diastolic dysfunction in patients with acromegaly].
BACKGROUND
Diastolic dysfunction is a common complication in patients with acromegaly. By using the metabolic treatment for acromegaly, an improvement in diastolic function is not always achieved and a group of these patients could obtain some benefit from a specific treatment for such a condition. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the utility of verapamil therapy in acromegalic patients with diastolic dysfunction.


METHODS
Fourteen patients (7 males and 7 females) with the diagnosis of acromegaly and diastolic dysfunction confirmed by echocardiogram were studied. After six months of treatment with verapamil (240 mg/day) the echo-cardiographic parameters and the functional class (NYHA) of patients were reevaluated.


RESULTS
All patients showed an increased basal measurement of the cardiac mass (mean [percentiles 25-75]: 149 g/m2 [128-264]) and no improvement was observed after treatment (182 g/m2 [123-328]). Also, no improvement was found regarding the studied diastolic function parameters: E/A relationship of left ventricle (0.70 [0.54-0.83] versus 0.61 [0.54-0.86]) and isovolumetric relaxation time (146 [119-193] versus 120 [97-169]). A trend towards improvement was indeed found in the functional class, although no statistical differences were observed.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results did not demonstrate a benefit derived from the treatment with verapamil upon the diastolic function in patients with acromegaly.
Marín Ortuño
F
F
Servicio de Cardiología, Hospital General Universitario de Alicante, Maestro Alonso 109, 03010 Alicante, Spain. fr.marino@coma.es
Climent Payá
V E
VE
Picó Alfonso
A M
AM
Martínez Martínez
J G
JG
Sánchez Payá
J
J
Sogorb Garri
F
F
D000172:Acromegaly / Q000150:complications*; D000368:Aged; D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003971:Diastole / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018754:Ventricular Dysfunction / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology*; D014700:Verapamil / Q000627:therapeutic use*
D002121:Calcium Channel Blockers; D014700:Verapamil