[Treatment of arterial hypertension with acebutolol. Double-blind study with placebos]

Acebutolol, a cardioselective beta-blocker, was studied at doses of 600 to 800 mg in a double-blind trial against placebo in 33 patients with essential hypertension. A moderate reduction in the arterial pressure was seen with placebo, but the pressure was greatly reduced by treatment with acebutolol (p less than 0,01). The heart rate was unchanged after placebo and was reduced by about 10 p.cent by acebutolol. Similarly plasma renin activity, in both lying and standing subjects, was not changed by the placebo, but it was greatly reduced by acebutolol. In the 33 patients studied, the arterial pressure returned to normal in 13 cases (39 p.cent), an improvement was obtained in 12 cases (36 p.cent) but in 8 cases (24 p.cent) the hypertension was not modified by acebutolol. The tolerance to acebutolol was excellent in all cases. No relationship was found between the hypotensive effect of acebutolol and the heart rate or its augmentation induced by orthostatism nor with the levels of plasma renin activity.