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The impact of race on response to RAAS inhibition

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Abstract

Retrospective analyses of the Studies of Left Ventricular Dysfunction (SOLVD) and Vasodilator Heart Failure Trials (V-HeFT) have addressed the question of whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors are equally efficacious in black patients and white patients with heart failure. In SOLVD, there was no ethnic difference in the efficacy of enalapril for reducing mortality and preventing the development of heart failure, but enalapril was more effective in whites in reducing hospitalizations. In V-HeFT II, enalapril was more efficacious than the combination of isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine in whites in reducing mortality, but not in blacks. However, the combination of isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine may be particularly advantageous in black patients as suggested by V-HeFT I and the recent African American Heart Failure Trial. In aggregate, the available data suggest that ACE inhibitors should remain a cornerstone of therapy for heart failure with a reduced ejection fraction in white patients and black patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, 5323 Harry Hines Boulevard, 75390, Dallas, TX, USA

    Mark H. Drazner MD, MSc

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  1. Thomas W. Wallace MD
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  2. Mark H. Drazner MD, MSc
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Wallace, T.W., Drazner, M.H. The impact of race on response to RAAS inhibition. Curr Heart Fail Rep 2, 72–77 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11897-005-0012-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11897-005-0012-4

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