Oxprenolol hydrochloride: a long-term study of efficacy, safety, and tolerability.

Thirty-five patients whose hypertension was not adequately controlled with optimum doses of hydrochlorothiazide (50-200 mg) entered a long-term study to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of oxprenolol hydrochloride (60-480 mg). All patients were included in the analysis of safety and tolerability, while the data of 26 patients studied for at least 22 months were used for a parametric analysis of efficacy. Mean standing systolic/diastolic blood pressure was significantly (p less than 0.001) reduced from 171/106 mm Hg to 142/85 mm Hg within three weeks of treatment. There was a similar reduction in supine blood pressure. All 26 patients were normotensive at the end of the titration period and blood pressure control was maintained for at least 22 months of therapy. Oxprenolol produced no serious adverse effects. The results of this long-term study suggest that oxprenolol is effective, well tolerated, and safe in the treatment of thiazide-resistant hypertension.