Use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers in clinical practice.

This survey was performed to determine the clinical characteristics of patients treated with renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) inhibitors in clinical practice. A total of 386 investigators were asked to consecutively include outpatients under treatment with RAAS inhibitors (angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers [ARBs] or both) for at least 6 months. In total, 2895 patients were included. The most frequent reason for prescribing RAAS inhibitors (particularly ARBs) was hypertension (p < 0.0001). When compared with ARBs, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors were more frequently prescribed in patients with ischemic heart disease or heart failure, but lesser prescribed in those with left ventricular hypertrophy, diabetic nephropathy or microalbuminuria. Patients with left ventricular hypertrophy, diabetic nephropathy or microalbuminuria were more commonly treated with the combination of treatments.