Clevidipine in Acute Hypertension: The Evidence of its Therapeutic Value

Abstract

While the chronic form of hypertension is most common; the acute form presents the greater danger, with more frequent and severe complications and poorer short-term prognosis compared to chronic hypertension. Antihypertensive drugs are used to treat acute hypertension according to the condition of the patient, target organ injured, and the resources available to monitor the patient. However, the limited number of medications intended for the aggressive management of acute hypertensive has highlighted the need for newer drugs that offer a rapid decrease of blood pressure (BP) without increasing the possible complications. After ten years of research and trials, clevidipine was approved by the FDA in 2008, and has been widely used to reduce BP when oral therapy is inappropriate. Compared to the few agents previously used for this purpose clevidipine takes the lead due to its shorter duration of action and its lower incidence of adverse events and toxicity rates.