Does low-dose captopril effectively and safely reduce blood pressure in geriatric patients with mild to moderate hypertension?
Low-dose captopril, with or without the addition of hydrochlorothiazide, is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for mild to moderate hypertension in the elderly.
The safety and efficacy of captopril in geriatric patients with mild to moderate hypertension was examined in an eight-week multicenter study of 99 patients. Following a placebo period, patients were treated with captopril 25 mg twice daily. Patients who were uncontrolled after two weeks of active therapy were randomized to either captopril 25 mg plus hydrochlorothiazide 15 mg or captopril 50 mg twice daily. The average decrease in blood pressure at study completion was--16.9/11.9 mmHg. At the conclusion of the trial, 75.8% of patients responded to therapy. Captopril was well tolerated and believed to be a good therapeutic alternative for treating hypertension in the elderly population.
Tuck et al. (Wed,) studied this question.