Inpharma 1539 - 27 May 2006

Olmesartan medoxomil/HCTZbeneficial in hypertension

A fixed combination of olmesartan medoxomil andhydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) has greater efficacy than afixed combination of losartan plus HCTZ for thetreatment of hypertension, report a multinational teamof researchers.

629 patients with moderate-to-severe essentialhypertension were randomised to receive eitherolmesartan/HCTZ 20mg/12.5mg (n = 315) or losartan/HCTZ 50mg/12.5mg once daily, for 12 weeks.

In both the intention-to-treat (ITT) and the per-protocol analyses, the endpoint reductions frombaseline in mean sitting diastolic BP were greater for theolmesartan/HCTZ recipients than for the losartan/HCTZ-treated patients (–17.6 vs –16.5mm Hg and–18.2mm Hg vs –16.7mm Hg, respectively), althoughonly the per-protocol result was significant. However, inthe ITT analysis, reductions in systolic BP weresignificantly greater for olmesartan/HCTZ recipients,compared with losartan/HCTZ recipients, at all timepoints. Furthermore, a significantly greater proportion ofolmesartan/HCTZ recipients had BP of < 140/90mm Hgat week 12, compared with losartan/HCTZ recipients(43.2% vs 32.1%).Rump LC, et al. Initial combination therapy with olmesartan/hydrochlorothiazidein moderate-to-severe hypertension. Journal of Human Hypertension 20: 299-301,No. 4, Apr 2006 801039851

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Inpharma 27 May 2006 No. 15391173-8324/10/1539-0001/$14.95 Adis © 2010 Springer International Publishing AG. All rights reserved