[Metoprolol in the treatment of essential hypertension (author's transl)].

The cardioselective betablocking agent metoprolol was used to treat 21 outpatients with essential arterial hypertension graded 1 and 2 of the OMS scale. The treatment was given orally for a mean duration of nine weeks at doses of 100 mg/day for two weeks and 200 mg/day for the remaining time. The treatment caused a significant reduction of systolic and diastolic arterial pressure (p less than 0.001), both in the erect and the lying down position. The heart rate was also significantly reduced both in the lying down (p less than 0.01) and the erect (p less than 0.05) positions. Metoprolol was shown to be effective and well tolerated as an antihypertensive agent; the treatment had to be interrupted in a single case because of dizziness, tiredness and dullness.