Simvastatin and Diastolic Dysfunction

Diastolic dysfunction (DD) is an increasingly frequent condition in hypertensive individuals whose treatment remains unclear. Its presence is related to higher morbidity and mortality independent of blood pressure levels. The aim of this study is to investigate the additive effect of simvastatin on enalapril on DD in hypertensive patients with average cholesterol levels. For this aim, hypertensive patients with DD and LDL-cholesterol \<160 mg/dL will undergo a run-in phase to achieve a systolic blood pressure (SBP) \<135 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) \<85 mmHg with enalapril. Hydrochlorothiazide could be added when need to achieve SBP or DBP control. Four weeks after reaching the optimum anti-hypertensive regimen patients will be randomized to receive 80 mg simvastatin or placebo for a period of 20 weeks. Echocardiograms will be performed before and after treatment with measurement of left atrial volume, conventional and tissue Doppler velocities in early diastole and late diastole. The evaluation of these will allow to identify changes of DD severity after treatment.