[The role of angiotensin II inhibitors in arterial hypertension: clinical trials and guidelines].

Despite many outstanding favorable results obtained over the past 30-40 years in the treatment of hypertension, several goals of antihypertensive therapy remain unmet. One of them concerns the epidemiological evidence that only 25% of treated hypertensive patients have optimal blood pressure control. Clinical use of new antihypertensive drugs is aimed at achieving the above-mentioned goals, and in particular, at providing more effective blood pressure control, greater cardiovascular protection, and better patient compliance to antihypertensive drug treatment. This paper will examine the main clinical features of angiotensin II receptor blockers, highlighting the results of clinical studies performed thus far, and the main goals of ongoing clinical trials with these drugs. Finally, the role of these compounds in the therapeutic approach to the hypertensive state according to the recent guidelines of the World Health Organization/International Society of Hypertension will be outlined.