[Antihypertensive effects of intravenous nicardipine in arterial hypertension in the elderly].

In order to evaluate the antihypertensive action of intravenous (i.v.) nicardipine, a calcium channel blocker, we included 28 patients (20 women and 8 men) aged from 71 to 93 years (mean age: 80.4 yrs) poorly controlled by their normal antihypertensive treatment, which had not consisted of a calcium channel blocker. These patients had past histories of a variety of cardiovascular disorders: valve disease (n = 4), disorders of cardiac rhythm (n = 3), paced or unpaced disorders of cardiac conduction (n = 8), and cerebrovascular accident (n = 12). On inclusion, their systolic blood pressure (SBP) was greater than or equal to 180 mmHg and/or their diastolic blood pressure (DBP) greater than or equal to 100 mmHg. Blood pressure recordings (SBP, DBP, MBP) and heart rate (HR) were simultaneously taken every 3 minutes for a period of 140 minutes by an automatic apparatus and a mercury manometer, before and after i.v. administration of nicardipine at 3 increasing dosages, respectively 1.25 mg (20 th min), 2.5 mg (32 th min) and 5 mg (44 th min), each injected over a period of 6 minutes. With a cumulative dose of 8.75 mg nicardipine i.v., the SBP decreased significantly from 192.6 to 138.8 mmHg (p less than 0.001); similarly, the DBP fell from 93.9 to 65.8 mmHg (p less than 0.001) and the MBP from 126.2 to 90.1 mmHg (Hg manometric measurement). In addition, after the final dose of nicardipine, the blood pressure progressively rose to reach levels, by the end of the trial, of 172.1 mmHg (SBP) and 91.1 mmHg (DBP).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)