Combined labetalol plus flunarizine treatment for arterial hypertension

Forty-one patients (21 males and 20 females) suffering from arterial hypertension associated with peripheral and cerebral vascular distress were treated for a period of 60 days with an extempore combination of labetalol (an antihypertensive drug with an alpha- and beta-blocking action) and flunarizine (a calcium-antagonist). Changes in supine and standing arterial blood pressure and in supine heart rate were evaluated periodically. Haematological and urinary controls of a number of biomedical indices were performed in basal conditions and after 60 days. The combination was found to show a rapid efficacy in the entire patient group: both supine and standing systolic and diastolic blood were significantly reduced as early as the tenth day of treatment. No significant changes in heart rate were observed. The combination revealed neither orthostatic hypotensive effects nor side-effects of such a degree of severity as to require reduction of the dose or discontinuation of the treatment.