Comparison of efficacy and side effects of combination therapy of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor (benazepril) with calcium antagonist (either nifedipine or amlodipine) versus high-dose calcium antagonist monotherapy for systemic hypertension
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Abstract
The present 2 multicenter studies were designed to evaluate whether patients with
essential hypertension derived equal benefits from use of combination therapy with
a calcium antagonist and angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor as from doubling
the dose of the calcium antagonist. After a 2-week washout and a 2-week single-blind
placebo run-in period, a total of 1,390 patients were treated with either nifedipine
30 mg (study 1) or amlodipine 5 mg (study 2) once daily for 4 weeks. The 1,079 patients
whose diastolic blood pressure remained between 95 and 115 mm Hg were randomized to
8 weeks of double-blind therapy with amlodipine 5 mg/benazepril 10 mg, amlodipine
5 mg/ benazepril 20 mg, nifedipine 30 mg or nifedipine 60 mg (study 1), and amlodipine
5 mg/benazepril 10 mg, amlodipine 5 mg/benazepril 20 mg, amlodipine 5 mg or amlodipine
10 mg (study 2). Both doses of the calcium antagonist/ACE inhibitor combination therapy
lowered diastolic pressure as much as the high dose and significantly better than
the lower dose of calcium antagonist monotherapy (with either nifedipine or amlodipine).
However, 15% of patients in the nifedipine high-dose monotherapy group and 24% in
the amlodipine high-dose monotherapy group presented with some form of edema. In contrast,
the incidence of edema was similar for patients treated with both combination therapy
and low-dose calcium antagonists. Thus, combination therapy with a calcium antagonist
and an ACE inhibitor provides blood pressure control equal to that of high-dose calcium
antagonist monotherapy but with significantly fewer dose-dependent adverse experiences
such as vasodilatory edema. Inc.