Results : BP and lipid levels tended to come together soon in the post-trial period .
Conclusion : Benefits of BPL and lipid lowering on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality were persistent , but attenuated , after discontinuation of r and omized treatment , indicating the importance of continuing therapy
Objective : Persistent long-term benefits after discontinuation of treatment have been suggested for blood pressure-lowering and lipid-lowering treatment .
We conducted a systematic review to assess the long-term effects of  blood pressure ( BP ) lowering ( BPL ) and lipid lowering on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality after discontinuation of r and omized treatment .
Effect of enalapril on 12-year survival and life expectancy in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction: a follow-up study
BACKGROUND In the studies of left ventricular dysfunction ( SOLVD ) , enalapril reduced mortality in patients with symptomatic but not asymptomatic left ventricular systolic dysfunction during the trial . We did a 12-year follow-up of SOLVD to establish if the mortality reduction with enalapril among patients with heart failure was sustained , and whether a subsequent reduction in mortality would emerge among those with asymptomatic ventricular dysfunction . METHODS Of the 6797 patients previously enrolled in the SOLVD prevention and treatment trials , we ascertained the subsequent vital status of 5165 individuals who were alive when the trials had been completed . Follow-up was done through direct contacts in Belgium and linkages with national death registries and federal beneficiary or historic tax summary files in the USA and Canada . FINDINGS Follow-up was 99.8 % ( 6784/6797 ) complete . In the prevention trial , 50.9 % ( 1074/2111 ) of the enalapril group had died compared with 56.4 % ( 1195/2117 ) of the placebo group ( generalised Wilcoxon p=0.001 ) . In the treatment trial , 79.8 % ( 1025/1285 ) of the enalapril group had died compared with 80.8 % ( 1038/1284 ) of the placebo group ( generalised Wilcoxon p=0.01 ) . The reductions in cardiac deaths were significant and similar in both trials . When data for the prevention and treatment trials were combined , the hazard ratio for death was 0.90 for the enalapril group compared with the placebo group ( 95 % CI 0.84 - 0.95 , generalised Wilcoxon p=0.0003 ) . Enalapril extended median survival by 9.4 months in the combined trials ( 95 % CI 2.8 - 16.5 , p=0.004 ) . INTERPRETATION Treatment with enalapril for 3 - 4 years led to a sustained improvement in survival beyond the original trial period in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction , with an important increase in life expectancy
Results : BP and lipid levels tended to come together soon in the post-trial period .
Conclusion : Benefits of BPL and lipid lowering on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality were persistent , but attenuated , after discontinuation of r and omized treatment , indicating the importance of continuing therapy
Objective : Persistent long-term benefits after discontinuation of treatment have been suggested for blood pressure-lowering and lipid-lowering treatment .
We conducted a systematic review to assess the long-term effects of  blood pressure ( BP ) lowering ( BPL ) and lipid lowering on all-cause and cardiovascular mortality after discontinuation of r and omized treatment .