Captopril in the treatment of mild essential hypertension

1 Among 34 patients with mild essential hypertension treated for four weeks with captopril alone the blood pressure of 47% returned to normal. By the end of the fourth week chlorthalidone had been added to captopril in 18 of the patients; 15 then achieved normal blood pressure, and only three failed to achieve diastolic blood pressures of under 100 mm Hg. 2 Among the 16 patients who continued to take captopril alone after the fourth week all achieved a return to normal blood pressure during the next 12 months of treatment. 3 Side effects of captopril were essentially limited to rash, taste alteration, and nausea and vomiting, which were usually mild and transient.