[Comparative effects of nifedipine and indapamide in the treatment of arterial hypertension].

A controlled multicentre trial was organised to compare the effects of 20 mg Nifedipine tablets (N) and 2,5 mg Indapamide tablets (I) during a 4 months' treatment period after a placebo period, in 59 patients with moderate essential hypertension (n = 59). The results of blood pressure measurements of 18 patients treated by nifedipine (1 tablet twice daily) and 22 patients treated by indapamide (1 tablet every morning) were compared. The systolic blood pressure, after 10 minutes recumbency, fell from 165 +/- 10 mmHg to 148 +/- 13 mmHg (p less than 0.01), and the diastolic pressure from 104 +/- 6 mmHg to 86 +/- 7 mmHg (p less than 0.01) in the patients treated with nifedipine. In the indapamide group, the SBP fell from 164 +/- 13 mmHg to 152 +/- 15 mmHg (p less than 0.01) and the DBP from 100 +/- 4 mmHg to 87 +/- 6 mmHg (p less than 0.01). There were no significant changes of heart rate with either drug; plasma creatinine, potassium and uric acid concentrations were also unchanged. There was a higher incidence of headaches and tiredness in the nifedipine group, whilst patients treated with indapamide complained more often of muscular cramps. Flushing was observed in nearly a quarter of the patients in both groups. These results confirm that both nifedipine and indapamide induce significant and persistant falls in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Although the fall was greater with nifedipine than with indapamide, the difference was not statistically significant. The tolerance was satisfactory in both groups of patients.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)