[Amlodipine in isolated systolic hypertension in the aged]

The authors studied the efficacy and safety of a long half-life dihydropyridine calcium-antagonist--amlodipine--in a single daily dose in the treatment of isolated systolic hypertension in the elderly. Ninety-seven subjects, age range 65-85 years, with isolated systolic hypertension were randomized into two groups, similar for age, weight and height, of 47 subjects submitted to active therapy and 50 subjects to placebo, respectively. The study was divided into two phases: in the first one, of three weeks, the first group was administered amlodipine at the dose of 5 mg/day; in the second period, which lasted 9 weeks also in case of systolic pressure normalization, amlodipine at the dose of 10 mg/day was administered. Forty-one subjects of the active drug group and 41 of the control group completed the study. The results were determined as mean +/- standard deviation; statistical analysis was completed by the Student T test. In the amlodipine group, at the end of the third week, a significant decrease in systolic arterial pressure was reported; at the end of the follow-up a further decrease in systolic arterial pressure was observed in the active treatment group as compared to the control group (p < 0.001). The other parameters considered (E.C.G., routine haematochemical tests) did not show significant changes in the two groups during the whole study period. Furthermore, during the follow-up, neither orthostatic hypotension nor reflex tachycardia, events which require particular attention during antihypertensive therapy in the elderly, were observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)