Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to assess left ventricular mass (LVM) in 20 mild to moderate essential hypertensive patients with left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) (LVM > 120 g/m2), treated with captopril alone or combined with hydrochlorothiazide. MRI examination was performed at the beginning (T0) and after 3 months (T3) of active treatment, by using a Philips Gyroscan S15 superconducting system, operating at 1.5 Tesla. We used a multislice-multiphase spin-echo sequence on the short-axis and transverse plane (TE = 30 ms; TR = 80-90% RR). End-diastolic thickness of interventricular septum (IVST) and lateral wall (LWT) were measured. LVM was calculated according to Simpson's rule. The results were: IVST 12.2 mm +/- 0.7 vs 10.9 mm +/- 0.5 (p < 0.001); LWT 11.5 mm +/- 0.9 vs 10.5 mm +/- 0.9 (p < 0.001); LVM 160 (g/m2) +/- 5.5 vs 138.4 g/m2 +/- 6 (p < 0.001), at T0 and T3, respectively. Our study demonstrates a significant regression of LVH in hypertensive patients after 3 months of treatment with captopril and a high accuracy of MRI as a noninvasive technique of measuring the LVM reduction
