[Use of beta-adrenergic blockaders in the treatment of arterial hypertension]

The results of treatment of over 300 patients suffering from hypertensive disease with beta-blocking agents Obsidan and Visken are analysed and the place of these agents among other hypotensive drugs is discussed. The therapeutic effect was most evident in patients with the early stages of the disease and hyperkinetic type of circulation. The daily doses were from 60 to 240 mg. The hemodynamic shifts were displayed by a decrease in the cardiac output and rate of cardiac contractions and reflex, ususlly moderate, increase in general peripheral resistance, as a result the arterial pressure decreased gradually. In 1 to 6 months general peripheral resistance diminished in half of the patients, evidently due to the gradual adaptation of the vascular tone to the chronic reduction of the cardiac output. Treatment with beta-blocking agents led to non-uniform changes in regional hemodynamics: the tone of the cerebral arteries significantly reduced, the tone of the arteries of the lower extremities had a tendency to increase. This gives rise to the conclusion that alpha-adrenergic receptors predominate in the vessels of the lower extremities. In the treatment of patients with high and stable hypertension, it is advisable to combine beta-blocking agents with saluretics, vasodilators, hemiton, and other hypotensive drugs.