[The structural aspects of the pharmacological activity of calcium antagonists. A general profile and the results of a pilot study of nicardipine].

The authors examine the most recent findings on arterial hypertension with particular emphasis to morphological changes of the arterial wall and to the results of nicardipine treatment in spontaneous hypertensive rats (SHR). According to these assumptions the authors evaluate the effects of nicardipine on the microvascular network by means of a funduscopic examination in 8 hypertensive patients. The preliminary data suggest that nicardipine has a positive structural and morphological effect on the vessel network.