The treatment of hypertension by labetalol--a new alpha- and beta-adrenoreceptor blocking agent.

A new alpha- and beta-blocking agent, labetalol, was used to treat 50 hypertensive patients, 34 of them with refractory hypertension. A significant reduction in hypertension was achieved with relatively few adverse reactions. The combination of alpha and beta blockers in labetalol with their mutually opposing characteristics offers an interesting and promising approach to the control of hypertension.