Ambulatory 24-H Blood Pressure Monitoring in Essential Hypertensives Treated with the Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitor Ramipril

A double-blind, crossover study was carried out on the antihypertensive effect of 5 mg ramipril. Continuous 24-h blood pressure monitoring was performed on 15 essential hypertensives [mean (+/- SD) blood pressure 155.2 +/- 6.5/101.3 +/- 4.8 mmHg], 24 h prior to treatment and 48 h after having received either antihypertensive therapy or placebo; the patients taking part in the study had not taken any antihypertensive treatment 4 weeks prior to the beginning of the trial. After receiving 5 mg ramipril the mean 24-h blood pressure was significantly (P less than 0.05) reduced to 148.3 +/- 5.8/91.5 +/- 5.5 mmHg. After 48 h the blood pressure increased to 153.1 +/- 4.8/96.0 +/- 6.4 mmHg. In the placebo group there was only a slight, non-significant reduction in blood pressure on day 1 (154.3 +/- 6.9/97.3 +/- 5.7 mmHg) and during day 2 the blood pressure increased to 155.4 +/- 5.3/99.5 +/- 5.9 mmHg. The results showed that a once-daily administration of 5 mg ramipril produced a reduction in blood pressure, which lasted 24 h. This simple therapeutic regime offers the advantage of being easy for patients to follow and, therefore, promotes compliance with therapy.