Effect of spirapril on left ventricular hypertrophy due to volume overload in rats.

The effect of the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor spirapril on structural and functional parameters of volume-overloaded rat hearts was evaluated in a time-course study. Left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) was induced by graded disruption of the aortic valve in male Wistar rats. Four weeks later, structural (LV mass and LV wall thickness) as well as functional parameters [LV end-systolic and end-diastolic volumes, stroke volume (SV), ejection fraction (EF)] were determined in anesthetized animals by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)