Dihydropiridinic Calcium-Channel Antagonists in the 2007 ESH/ESC Hypertension Guidelines.

Blood pressure lowering per se provides a large proportion of the benefit associated with antihypertensive treatment. Blood pressure should be reduced to <140/90 mmHg in the general hypertensive population, but lower targets should be presumed in individuals at high cardiovascular risk. In this context, calcium-channel antagonists (CCAs) remain important antihypertensive drugs because of: (i) their ability to effectively lower BP in monotherapy as well as to optimally combine with other drugs when multiple drug treatment is needed; (ii) evidence from clinical trials indicates that their administration is accompanied by a reduction in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality; and (iii) their specific prospective properties on some types of subclinical organ damage of special importance for hypertension-related morbidity or mortality, i.e. atherosclerosis. This is in line with the modern view of cardiovascular prevention as a strategy that should delay the progression to high cardiovascular risk, which, once reached, is partly irreversible.