Impact of antihypertensive treatment on cardiovascular event reduction in patients with asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Cardiovascular conditions disrupt the normal functioning of the heart and blood vessels, often due to underlying conditions like atherosclerosis or hypertension. Antihypertensive medications are essential in cardiovascular disease management, encompassing several major drug classes with distinct mechanisms of action. Hence, this review evaluated the impact of various antihypertensive treatments on cardiovascular event reduction in asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis (CAS) patients. A comprehensive literature search was conducted from inception to 2024 on various databases by using specific keywords, and based on the eligibility criteria, three observational cohort studies and six randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of the 540 records retrieved were incorporated in this systematic review. The Newcastle-Ottawa scale was used to assess the methodological quality of the cohort studies, and the risk of bias visualization tool was used for RCTs. Data were then systematically extracted and analyzed. The results reported that enalapril and fosinopril demonstrated dual benefits in blood pressure (BP) reduction and vascular remodeling, though meta-analysis showed statistically insignificant improvements in regional cerebral blood flow (CI: -0.84, 6.08, P = 0.14, I2= 94%). Similarly, isradipine, lacidipine, and amlodipine improved carotid hemodynamics and cerebral perfusion, with meta-analysis favoring calcium channel blocker intervention for blood pressure management (CI: -3.25 to 7.64, P = 0.43). On the other hand, thiazide diuretics effectively reduced BP but showed limited efficacy in preventing atherosclerosis progression. In addition, angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) significantly reduced 5-year stroke rates from 11% to 3.5%. Moreover, beta-blockers showed specific benefits, with metoprolol improving plaque echogenicity (57.3 ± 16.8 vs. 51.8 ± 20.0, p = 0.006) and reducing cardiovascular events (17% vs. 37% placebo, p = 0.011), while labetalol effectively managed post-endarterectomy hypertension. In conclusion, antihypertensive treatments showed varying effectiveness in cardiovascular event reduction and improvements in vessel measures.