EFFICACY AND TOLERABILITY OF LERCANIDIPINE IN ELDERLY PATIENTS WITH MILD TO MODERATE HYPERTENSION IN A PLACEBO-CONTROLLED, DOUBLE-BLIND STUDY

This multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study was performed to assess the efficacy and tolerability of lercanidipine, a new dihydropyridine calcium antagonist, for treatment of elderly hypertensive patients. A total of 144 patients aged 60-85 years were enrolled and randomly allocated to lercanidipine 10 mg or placebo for 4 weeks. The starting dose was then titrated up to 30 mg q.d. in non-responders during the following 12 weeks. The diastolic blood pressure (DBP) decrease induced by lercanidipine 10 mg (−10.3 mm Hg) was significantly greater than the DBP reduction observed after placebo (−6.1 mm Hg; p