Why the study?
Does abrupt withdrawal of pindolol compared to atenolol cause different hemodynamic and thyroid hormone changes in patients with mild hypertension?
Does abrupt withdrawal of pindolol compared to atenolol cause different hemodynamic and thyroid hormone changes in patients with mild hypertension?
Abrupt withdrawal of beta-blockers pindolol and atenolol in hypertensive patients leads to frequent withdrawal syndrome symptoms and distinct physiological overshoots.
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May warrant gradual beta-blocker tapering in hypertension to avoid symptoms; extends evidence of agent-specific withdrawal effects.
In a double-blind study 19 patients with mild and uncomplicated arterial hypertension were randomized to treatment with either pindolol 10 mg or atenolol 100 mg once daily for 4 weeks. After abrupt withdrawal a minor overshoot of free-T3 was seen in both groups. This was, however, statistically significant in the pindolol group only. The only overall haemodynamic changes which was observed after the withdrawal was an overshoot in heart rate in the standing position in the atenolol group. Great inter-individual differences in the haemodynamic parameters were found, however, and changes suggestive for withdrawal syndrome were found in 14 patients (pindolol = 7). The time for this overshoot varied considerably from 48-132 h post-drug in both groups. No correlation between the alterations in free-T3 and the cardiovascular parameters was found.
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Jespersen et al. (1986) studied this question.
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