Sustained antihypertensive response with Minizide: long-term follow-up in a multicentre study

The safety and effectiveness of prazosin hydrochloride combined with polythiazide for the treatment of hypertension was studied in four European countries by ten investigators. One-hundred and seventy-seven adult male and female patients, 91% with essential hypertension were treated for an average of 7 months. Reductions from placebo-controlled baseline blood pressure exceeded 15% over the 8-week short-term phase of the study with further reductions of up to 22% observed at the end of the study. Ninety-six per cent of all patients completed therapy with a diastolic blood pressure of 90 mm Hg or less. Most patients were adequately controlled on 2 tablets or less once daily. Each tablet contained 0.5 mg prazosin hydrochloride and 0.25 mg polythiazide. Long-term toleration was excellent. Side-effects were typical of those expected with antihypertensive medication and nearly all were reported during the first 8 weeks of treatment with no interruption or discontinuation of drug. Nearly all patients were followed throughout for laboratory changes. There were minimal changes consistent with the therapy and there was no pattern indicative of toxic potential. It is concluded that the drug combination, Minizide, is effective and well tolerated as initial and long-term therapy in hypertension and that the convenient dosage regimen will lead to enhanced treatment compliance for this chronic condition.