Calcium-Channel Blockers for Hypertension — Uncertainty Continues

After the introduction of calcium-channel blockers into clinical practice nearly two decades ago, prescriptions for these drugs for the treatment of hypertension increased to the point where they became the most commonly prescribed antihypertensive drugs in the United States, at least as of a few years ago.1 Although calcium-channel blockers lower blood pressure and are well tolerated, until recently no data were available from randomized clinical trials regarding their effects on morbidity and mortality in patients with hypertension.In the Systolic Hypertension in Europe (Syst-Eur) trial,2 a long-acting member of the dihydropyridine subclass of calcium-channel blockers, nitrendipine, was found to . . .