[Nicardipine and its indications in neurology]

Although the use of calcium-channel blockers is strongly supported by experimental data, its clinical application is far less clear. In this paper we intend to review the actual guidelines for using a member of this family of drugs, nicardipine.

We have carried out an intensive search for any clinical assay published with nicardipine all over the last years in different clinical entities such as subarachnoid haemorrhage, migraine, cerebrovascular pathology, etc. In many of them no clinical assays have been done or either they have too many methodological problems so that appropriate conclusions can be drawn. However most of them offer results which should have prompted the design of wider works in number of patients and follow-up periods which could offer conclusive answers to an important number of questions which remain open about the use of this class of drugs.

We have only found a clear indication for the use of nicardipine in migraine and subarachnoid haemorrhage. In the rest of clinical entities reviewed we have found some experimental evidences but no clinical data to justify this use. It is highly recommendable that well designed clinical assays with an adequate number of patients are started in this field.