A Brazilian multicenter study to evaluate the clinical effectiveness and tolerance of isradipine SRO using ambulatory monitoring of arterial pressure in the treatment of mild and moderate arterial hypertension

Abstract To evaluate clinical efficacy and tolerability of isradipine SRO (I.SRO), 5 mg O.D. in essential hypertensives. Eighty-three of 87 selected outpatients with a mean age of 51.3 years (ranging from 25 to 65), 33 male, 48 white, 29 black and others of different races, who had clinical supine and orthostatic diastolic blood pressure (DBP) > or = 95 mmHg and 140 mmHg or of diastolic blood pressure values > 90 mmHg) was significantly reduced from 62.2/62% (SBP/DBP), on the was-out, to 37.9/39.9% (SBP/DBP) on phase I and to 32.3/34.3% (SBP/DBP) on phase II; d) side effects: most frequently related were palpitations (2.3%), headache (1.1%), flush (1%) and ankle oedema (1%). They were in general, mild-to-moderate and disappeared after the first 3 weeks of treatment. Only two patients were withdrawn because of headache (one of them with previous diagnosis of migraine). I.SRO, given by oral route, in the dosage of 5 mg O.D. as monotherapy, was effective and well tolerated, promoted significant reduction on 24-h ambulatory blood pressure attenuating the early morning rise and did not interfere with the circadian rhythm of blood pressure. No significant differences were detected in the BP lowering effect when I.SRO was given during the morning or evening. These results may indicate that the drug is as suitable as one of the first choice for treating mild and moderate hypertensive patients.