Abstract
In patients with accelerated (malignant) hypertension, end-organ damage is the determinant factor for prognosis. Although recent advances in antihypertensive therapy have improved the outcome of patients with accelerated hypertension, the effectiveness of antihypertensive therapy still remains less convinced. In this study, we followed 13 patients clinically diagnosed with accelerated hypertension (defined as diastolic blood pressure>130mmHg, retinopathy with K-W IV and accelerated renal impairment) for 3yr. One patient died due to acute myocardial infarction arising from poor compliance with antihypertensive therapy. One patient was maintained on hemodialysis for 3yr. One patient was introduced for continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) for a year and then lived without dialysis therapy. The remaining 10 patients were followed for 3yr. All patients were initially treated with intravenous administration of calcium antagonist for reduction of blood pressure, followed by hemodialysis therapy if needed. After stabilization of blood pressure, combination therapy with extended release nifedipine (40 to 80mg daily) and arotinolol (20mg daily) was started. The targets for blood pressure control were a systolic pressure of 135mmHg and a diastolic pressure of 80mmHg. If blood pressure control was unsatisfactory, guanabenz (2 to 4mg before bedtime), a central acting drug, was added. At presentation, the mean diastolic blood pressure (mDBP) among the 10 remaining patients was 134±2mmHg, the mean serum creatinine (mScr) was 4.5±0.7mg/dl and the left ventricular mass index (LVMi) as measured by echocardiography was 150±9 g/m2. At 1yr, the mDBP was reduced to 90±3mmHg, the mScr to 2.9±0.9mg/dl and the LVMi to 140±9g/m2. At 3yr, the mDBP was stabilized at 79±3mmHg, the mScr maintained at 2.2 ±0.4mg/dl, and the LVMi reduced to 128±9g/m2. These results indicate that appropriate blood pressure control is important for improvement of renal impairment and cardiac damage in patients with accelerated hypertension. Moreover, combination therapy with arotinolol and extended release nifedipine may be beneficial for this purpose. (Hypertens Res 2000; 23: 159-166)
