ELITE Study

ELITE (= Evaluation of Losartan in the Elderly), 722 on average 74-year-old patients with an average ejection fraction of 30% were treated with 43 mg losartan or 123 mg captopril in 125 centers. There was a 64% reduced incidence of cases of sudden cardiac death among Losartan. A possible explanation for this may be the reduced release of catecholamines during therapy with AT1 antagonists. The number of premature therapy terminations was significantly lower with A II antagonist than with ACE inhibitors (12.2 to 20.8%).