Why the study?
Does valsartan improve retinal capillary rarefaction in patients with stage 1 or 2 hypertension?
Does valsartan improve retinal capillary rarefaction in patients with stage 1 or 2 hypertension?
Four weeks of valsartan therapy reverses retinal capillary rarefaction in patients with stage 1 or 2 hypertension, restoring microvascular parameters to levels comparable to healthy controls.
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Valsartan may confer microvascular benefits in stage 1-2 hypertension; extends retinal imaging as a tool to assess ARB effects beyond BP reduction.
Decreased capillary density influences vascular resistance and perfusion. The authors aimed to investigate the influence of the renin-angiotensin receptor blocker valsartan on retinal capillary rarefaction in hypertensive patients. Retinal vascular parameters were measured noninvasively and in vivo by scanning laser Doppler flowmetry before and after 4 weeks of treatment with valsartan in 95 patients with hypertension stage 1 or 2 and compared with 55 healthy individuals. Retinal capillary rarefaction was determined with the parameters intercapillary distance (ICD) and capillary area (CapA). In hypertensive patients, ICD decreased (23.4±5.5 μm vs 21.5±5.6 μm, P<.001) and CapA increased (1564±621 vs 1776±795, P=.001) after valsartan treatment compared with baseline. Compared with healthy normotensive controls (ICD 20.2±4.2 μm, CapA 1821±652), untreated hypertensive patients showed greater ICD (P<.001) and smaller CapA (P=.019), whereas treated hypertensive patients showed no difference in ICD (P=.126) and CapA (P=.728). Therapy with valsartan for 4 weeks diminished capillary rarefaction in hypertensive patients.
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Jumar et al. (2016) studied this question.
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