Control of Blood Pressure and Prevention of End-Organ Damage in Patients with Accelerated Hypertension by Combination with Arotinolol and Extended Release Nifedipine.

Abstract

In patients with accelerated (malignant) hypertension, end-organ damage is the determinant factor for prognosis. Although recent advances in antihypertensive therapy have improved the outcome of patients with accelerated hypertension, the effectiveness of antihypertensive therapy still remains less convinced.In this study, we followed 13 patients clinically diagnosed with accelerated hypertension (defined as diastolic blood pressure > 130 mmHg, retinopathy with K-W IV and accelerated renal impairment) for 3 yr. One patient died due to acute myocardial infarction arising from poor compliance with antihypertensive therapy. One patient was maintained on hemodialysis for 3 yr. One patient was introduced for continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) for a year and then lived without dialysis therapy. The remaining 10 patients were followed for 3 yr. All patients were initially treated with intravenous administration of calcium antagonist for reduction of blood pressure, followed by hemodialysis therapy if needed. After stabilization of blood pressure, combination therapy with extended release nifedipine (40 to 80 mg daily) and arotinolol (20 mg daily) was started. The targets for blood pressure control were a systolic pressure of 135 mmHg and a diastolic pressure of 80 mmHg. If blood pressure control was unsatisfactory, guanabenz (2 to 4 mg before bedtime), a central acting drug, was added. At presentation, the mean diastolic blood pressure (mDBP) among the 10 remaining patients was 134±2 mmHg, the mean serum creatinine (mScr) was 4.5±0.7 mg/dl and the left ventricular mass index (LVMi) as measured by echocardiography was 150±9 g/m2. At 1 yr, the mDBP was reduced to 90±3 mmHg, the mScr to 2.9±0.9 mg/dl and the LVMi to 140± 9 g/m2. At 3 yr, the mDBP was stabilized at 79 ± 3 mmHg, the mScr maintained at 2.2 ± 0.4 mg/dl, and the LVMi reduced to 128 ± 9 g/m2. These results indicate that appropriate blood pressure control is important for improvement of renal impairment and cardiac damage in patients with accelerated hypertension.Moreover, combination therapy with arotinolol and extended release nifedipine may be beneficial for this purpose. (Hypertens Res 2000; 23:159-166)

Clinical value of multiorgan damage in hypertensive crises: A prospective follow‐up study

“…Despite strict antihypertensive therapy, patients with MHT and those with hypertension‐MOD had a similar prevalence rates of RH. RH was an independent risk factor for both poor renal and CV outcomes in our cohort, consistent with previous studies 13,33,34 . The difficulty in achieving satisfactory BP control in both MHT and hypertension‐MOD patients indicates that these two clinical conditions are correlated with increased risks for adverse outcomes.…”

Microalbuminuria and Cardiovascular Events in Elderly Hypertensive patients without Previous Cardiovascular Complications

“…In Japan, hypertension has been shown to be a significant predictor of stroke, myocarial infarction, and ESRD (18,19). Arguments have been made as to whether microalbuminuria can predict the prognosis of hypertensive patients.…”

Intensive Blood Pressure Reduction Is Beneficial in Patients with Impaired Cardiac Function Coexisting with Chronic Renal Insufficiency

“…Blood pressure control was approached using the following step-wise therapeutic strategy: 1) dose adjustment of amlodipine up to 20 mg daily; 2) addition of furosemide up to 60 mg daily; and 3) addition of guanabenz at a bedtime dose of 2 to 8 mg daily. Combination therapies were used because they have previously been reported to be necessary for achieving target blood pressure goals in numerous large-scale clinical trials (20,21). After a baseline evaluation, patients were randomly assigned either to a group (group II) with the usual blood pressure goal of 130/80 mmHg or to a second group (group I) with a low blood pressure goal of 120/75 mmHg or less.…”