[Long-term antihypertensive therapy with urapidil. A 3-year open, multicenter trial of tolerance, safety and...

Within the framework of an open, multicenter study of 16 physicians treated 206 hypertensive patients with a daily dose of 2 x 30 mg to 2 x 90 mg of urapidil over a period of 3 years. Data are available on 182 patients for the entire study period. 24 patients discontinued the study due to adverse effects (n = 2), an inadequate effect (n = 2), or for reasons unrelated to therapy (n = 20); 58 (28.2%) patients had complaints. The most frequently reported symptoms were nausea, dizziness, drowsiness and fatigue. No relevant changes in laboratory values were observed. Average body weight remained constant and there were no signs of sodium or water retention. In the first year systolic blood pressure was reduced by 25 mm Hg from 174 +/- 13 mm Hg to 149 +/- 10 mm Hg (mean value +/- SD), and diastolic pressure by 17 mm Hg from 103 +/- 6 mm Hg to 86 +/- 6 mm Hg. At the same average dose this drop in BP persisted in the second year (150 +/- 12/86 +/- 7 mm Hg) and the third year (146 +/- 10/85 +/- 7 mm Hg), indicating that there was no decrease in urapidil effect. The pulse rate fell from 77 +/- 8 beats/minute to 74 +/- 6 beats/minute and remained virtually constant over the next 2 years.