The management of acute hypertension in patients with renal dysfunction: labetalol or nicardipine?

AbstractStudy Objectives: To compare the safety and efficacy of US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-recommended doses of labetalol and nicardipine for hypertension (HTN) management in a subset of patients with renal dysfunction (RD). Design: Randomized, open label, multicenter prospective clinical trial. Setting: Thirteen United States tertiary care emergency departments. Patients or Participants: Subgroup analysis of the Evaluation of IV Cardene (Nicardipine) and Labetalol Use in the Emergency Department (CLUE) clinical trial. The subjects were 104 patients with RD (ie, creatinine clearance < 75 mL/min) who presented to the emergency department with a systolic blood pressure (SBP) ≥ 180 mmHg on 2 consecutive readings and for whom the emergency physician felt intravenous antihypertensive therapy was desirable. Interventions: The FDA recommended doses of either labetalol or nicardipine for HTN management. Measurements: The number of patients achieving the physician's predefined target SBP range within 30...