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Matched doses of metoprolol and pindolol were administered to 31 hypertensive outpatients in a double-blind randomized crossover trial, which was designed to compare the antihypertensive efficacy and pattern of side effects of the two drugs. Twenty-nine patients completed the study. A tenfold difference in dose (25 +/- 2 mg/day of pindolol and 234 +/- 22 mg/day of metoprolol) was required to produce a similar antihypertensive effect. There was a significantly greater fall in pulse rate during metoprolol treatment. Complaints of dry mouth, mild Raynaud's phenomenon, and eye discomfort were more frequent during treatment with metoprolol; and sleep disturbances and abnormal dreaming patterns were more frequent during treatment with pindolol.
McNeil et al. (Tue,) studied this question.