[Torasemide is the effective loop diuretic for long-term therapy of arterial hypertension].

Torasemide is a loop diuretic and has been used for the treatment of both acute and chronic congestive heart failure (CHF) and arterial hypertension (AH). Torasemide is similar to other loop diuretics in terms of its mechanism of diuretic action. It has higher bioavailability (>80%) and a longer elimination half-life (3 to 4 hours) than furosemide. In the treatment of CHF torasemide (5 to 20 mg/day) has been shown to be an effective diuretic. Non-diuretic dosages (2.5 to 5 mg/day) of torasemide have been used to treat essential AH, both as monotherapy and in combination with other antihypertensive agents. When used in these dosages, torasemide lowers diastolic blood pressure to below 90mm Hg in 70 to 80% of patients. Antihypertensive efficacy of torasemide is similar to that of thiazides and related compounds. Thus low-dose torasemide constitutes an alternative to thiazides in the treatment of essential AH.