[Evaluation of the efficacy and tolerance of the new delayed-action angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor cilazapril in patients with hypertension (preliminary report)].

Cilazapril [correction of Silazapril], a new inhibitor of long-acting angiotensin-converting enzyme, was given to 39 hypertensive subjects aged 24-68 with initial diastolic pressure 95-120 mm Hg. Of them 16 were females and 23 were males. The course of the treatment lasted 8 weeks, the drug being taken daily in a single dose 2.5 mg in the morning. Checkups, measurements of arterial pressure (AP), blood counts, urinalyses were made before the treatment, on the treatment week 4 and 8. In one patient the drug was discontinued 4 weeks after the treatment start because the AP fall to 110/63, in 23 patients the dose was raised to 5 mg, the rest continued on 2.5 mg/day. The treatment ended in the systolic pressure decrease by 14.9% (from 161.0 +/- 2.9 to 137.8 +/- 2.8 mm Hg, p < 0.0001) and diastolic pressure fall by 13.5% (from 104.5 +/- 1.4 to 90.1 +/- 1.7 mm Hg, p < 0.005). No side effects causing the drug withdrawal were registered. It is concluded that the drug is effective in essential hypertension stage IIA-IIB as monotherapy.