Coadministration of calcium antagonists and ACE inhibitors--is a skeptic convinced?: a personal view.

The pathological chain of events that stretches from the earliest atheromatous lesion to end-stage myocardial failure and death is amenable to attack in many places. It may well prove that a multifaceted intervention offers the best therapeutic option. Two important cardiovascular therapies, the calcium entry blockers and ACE inhibitors, may offer more than their effects on vascular tone and remodeling. Both have actions on the basic process of atheroma. Individually, or more challengingly in combination, they may strike at the basic pathogenesis of atherosclerosis yet still provide their more general beneficial effect on vasomotor tone. Whilst clinical data are yet scant, there is a plausible biological basis for their coprescription.