The efficacy of isradipine in uncontrolled hypertension in Ethiopian patients

The efficacy of isradipine, a new antihypertensive dihydropyridine calcium antagonist, was prospectively studied in Ethiopian patients with uncontrolled severe hypertension on multiple antihypertensive agents. Enrolled were 13 patients based on inclusion and exclusion criteria and 12 patients completed the study. The study design included a three-week wash-out period followed by eight weeks of active treatment. Eleven patients (92%) took diuretics in addition to isradipine. Patients were started on 2.5mg of isradipine twice daily and the dose was increased to 5mg twice daily in eight (67%) patients since the diastolic blood pressure (DBP) remained above 90mmHg four weeks after the initiation of therapy. The treatment resulted in a mean decrease of 42mmHg in systolic blood pressure (SBP) (p < 0.0001) and 34mmHg in DBP (p < 0.0001). Seven patients (58%) achieved normalization of DBP and in the remaining 5 (42%) the DBP became less than 105mmHg. Almost all patients experienced mild and transient side effects resulting from vasodilation but all tolerated these except one who dropped out from the study. In conclusion, these results indicate that isradipine combined with a diuretic is a safe and effective antihypertensive agent in Ethiopian patients with uncontrolled hypertension.