Left ventricular diastolic function in hypertension: Improvement with verapamil

To see if the acute administration of verapamil improves diastolic filling in hypertension (HTN) and to evaluate the time course of this effect, the authors performed supine 400 equilibrium radionuclide angiography in 7 patients (pts.). Absolute LV volumes were measured using a correction for attenuation in each pt. Time activity curves were analyzed by the cubic smoothing spline technique and peak ejection rate (PER) and peak filling rate (PFR) were determined. By 3-6 min all measurements except HR were similar to PRE. Thus, in pts with HTN, acute administration of verapamil produces rapid transient increase in PFR independent of change in HR or BP