Amlodipine and captopril in moderate-severe essential hypertension

The therapeutic usefulness of adding once-daily amlodipine (10 mg) for four weeks in moderate-severe hypertensive patients uncontrolled on low dose captopril (25 mg twice daily) alone was studied in 29 patients in a double-blind, placebo-controlled two-way crossover comparison. Once daily amlodipine was shown to be an effective antihypertensive drug when combined with captopril. The amlodipine minus placebo differences in mean changes from captopril baseline values were: -18/-12 mmHg and -20/-12 mmHg for supine and standing systolic/diastolic pressures (P less than 0.001 for all four pressure variables). The combination was well tolerated, and no patient discontinued therapy. Five patients experienced ankle oedema and four patients reported flushing while receiving amlodipine/captopril.