[Pharmacotherapy of hypertension]

A large variety of drugs is available for treatment of hypertension. Moreover, many randomised controlled trials with clinically relevant endpoints (morbidity, mortality, quality of life) do exist in the cardiovascular field, providing for sufficient evidence to choose the appropriate agent in most circumstances. For diuretics and betablockers a large body of evidence in terms of beneficial effects on outcome does exist, for ACE-inhibitors in some special indications only. These drugs are therefore recommended as first-line treatments. For calcium-channel blockers (with the exception of isolated systolic hypertension in the elderly) and AT1-receptor-antagonists the results of endpoint-studies are still awaited. These results will have to be considered for revised versions of currently available guidelines.