AIM: To evaluate the effect of simvastatin on the left ventricular mass in patients with essential hypertension (EH). METHODS: 50 patients with hypertension without severe complication were randomly divided into two treatment groups: combination treatment group and hydragogue group, and 25 normal subjects without any treatment were taken as the control. The 25 patients in combination treatment group were given simvastatin and hydragogue for 12 weeks while the other patients in hydragogue group were given hydragogue during the same time. The left ventricular mass was examined from ultrasonography in all patients before and after treatment. RESULTS: The left ventricular mass index (LVMI) was higher in the two treatment groups of patients (133.61±31.02, 118.04±39.62 g·m-2) than that in the control group (88.79±22.73 g·m-2) before treatment (P<0.01, 0.0001, respectively) while the blood pressure was higher. There was no significantly difference in age, serum concentrations of total cholesterol or triglyceride, sugar and blood pressure between the two treatment groups and the control group (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in all variables between the two treatment groups before treatment. After treatment, the LVMI was decreased (133.61±31.02 vs 91.07±16.01 g·m-2, P<0.01) in the combination treatment group while there was no significant change in LVMI in the hydragogue group compared with the control group. The blood pressure in the two treatment groups was decreased to the normal. Compared with hydragogue group, the change of LVMI was higher in the combination group though the serum concentrations of total cholesterol, triglyceride or sugar were not significantly different. No significant change in serum concentrations of total cholesterol, triglyceride or sugar was found during treatment in the two groups. The change of LVMI did not correlate with the change of blood pressure, serum concentrations of total cholesterol , triglyceride or sugar in the combination treatment group(P>0.05). CONCLUSION: Being independent of the changes of serum concentrations of total cholesterol, triglyceride or sugar and blood pressure, simvastatin can inhibit the increase of left ventricular mass in patients with essential hypertension.

Objective To rapidly evaluate the efficacy,safety,and economics of dexmedetomidine in patients on mechanical ventilation in intensive care unit(ICU),and to provide references for clinical and decision makers.Methods To search PubMed,Embase,Cochrane Library,CNKI,WanFang Data databases and official websites of domestic and foreign Health Technology assessment(HTA)institutions from the inception to June 14,2023.HTA reports,systematic reviews/Meta-analyses,and pharmacoeconomic studies of patients with mechanical ventilation in ICU compared with dexmedetomidine versus placebo or other traditional sedatives were included.Two reviewers independently identified studies,extracted data,assessed the quality of included studies,and descriptive analyzed and summarised the results.Results A total of 13 literatures were included,including 10 systematic reviews/Meta-analyses and 3 economic studies.The analysis results of effectiveness showed that compared with placebo or other traditional sedatives,the use of dexmedetomidine in the sedation of mechanically ventilated patients in the ICU was associated with a shorter duration of mechanical ventilation and a shorter length of stay in the ICU.The analysis results of safety displayed treatment with dexmedetomidine could reduce the incidence of delirium,but may increase the incidence of bradycardia.The results of the economic analysis showed that the dexmedetomidine group had a higher cost of medication,but a lower overall ICU cost.Conclusion Dexmedetomidine has good efficacy,safety and economics in the sedation of patients on mechanical ventilation in ICU,but the economic studies included in the search were mainly foreign studies,and domestic economy studies needs to be further demonstrated.