ANGIOTENSIN-CONVERTING ENZYME INHIBITION AS FIRST-LINE TREATMENT FOR HYPERTENSION |
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Authors: | Herbert Thurston |
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Institution: | Department of Medicine, Clinical Sciences Building, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK |
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Abstract: | 1. Perindopril (4 mg) was compared with atenolol (50 mg), captopril (25 mg b. d.) or a diuretic (hydrochlorothiazide 50 mg and amiloride 5 mg) in three studies involving a total of 503 hypertensive patients with a diastolic blood pressure (DBP) of 95–125 mmHg. 2. A 4 week single-blind placebo period preceded 12 weeks of active treatment. Dose titration was at weeks 4 and 8 if supine DBP >90 mmHg. The dose was doubled and if necessary a diuretic was added in the atenolol or captopril comparisons, and atenolol was added in the diuretic study. 3. The fall in supine blood pressure (BP) was 27/17 mmHg with perindopril and 21/16 mmHg for atenolol. Monotherapy controlled 55% of patients on perindopril and 48% on atenolol, increasing to 78% and 58% with the addition of hydrochlorothiazide, respectively. Captopril caused a BP fall of 19/12 mmHg compared with 27/18 mmHg for perindopril, with 49% of both groups being controlled on monotherapy. 4. Diuretic addition produced a greater antihypertensive effect with perindopril (75%) compared with 57% for captopril in achieving control. Perindopril caused a comparable fall in supine BP to the diuretic combination 27/19 mmHg and 31/18 mmHg, but the fall in erect systolic BP was significantly greater for the diuretic. At 3 months, 85% of the diuretic group and 78% of the perindopril group achieved the target BP. 5. A multicentre trial of 856 patients treated with perindopril (690 patients treated for 1 year or more) has shown that BP control is maintained in the long term with a low incidence of side-effects (7.9%) causing withdrawal from treatment. These studies demonstrate that perindopril compares favourably with standard first-line therapy for mild to moderate hypertension. |
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Keywords: | antihypertensive treatment atenolol diuretic double-blind trial first-line therapy perindopril |
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