Therapeutic benefits and safety of carvedilol in the treatment of renal hypertension. An open, short term study. Carvedilol Renal Hypertension Study Group in Japan.

Carvedilol, a new beta-blocker with vasodilating activity, was given orally to 9 hypertensive inpatients with impaired renal function in a dosage regimen of 5 to 20mg once daily to evaluate its clinical efficacy and safety. Treatment with carvedilol produced a significant decrease in blood pressure from 172/101 to 150/87mm Hg (p less than 0.01), but it did not cause orthostatic hypotension. Heart rate was decreased from 74.3 to 72.8 beats/min, but the decrease was not statistically significant. Serum creatinine and BUN levels were unchanged and other laboratory parameters were within normal limits. There were no side effects in any of the patients during the trial. These results suggest that carvedilol is a useful and safe drug for the treatment of renal hypertension.