Background: The beneficial effect of ACE inhibitors on mortality has been established in a series of trials. However, in clinical practice, ACE inhibitors are commonly administered in doses much lower than those shown to be effective in the landmark trials.
Aims: This report describes the baseline characteristics of the patients recruited into the ATLAS study by age and gender sub-groups.
Methods: The ATLAS study compared the effects of 'low' dose (2.5-5.0 mg/day) to 'high' dose (32.5-35.0 mg/day) lisinopril in a double-blind study of 3164 patients with moderate to severe heart failure and left ventricular ejection fraction < 30% during a mean follow-up period of 46 months. The primary end-point was all cause mortality and the principal secondary end-point a composite of all-cause hospitalisation or all-cause mortality.
Results: Among patients with heart failure selected for the presence of left ventricular systolic function there were few differences among age groups or between genders. Older patients were not so heavy, were more likely to have ischaemic heart disease, hypertension and atrial fibrillation contributing to their heart failure and had a higher blood urea. Women were not so heavy as men. Age and gender had no major influence on mean ejection fraction or baseline treatment in the ATLAS study.
Conclusions: Weight and renal function may alter the plasma concentration of any given dose of an ACE inhibitor. Potential interactions between dose of lisinopril, weight and renal function will be explored after the study is completed.