[Efficacy and acceptability of rilmenidine in a population of 2 738 hypertensive diabetic patients]

Abstract

Context: Despite the constant enrichment of the pharmacopoeia, the normalizing of blood pressure in hypertensive diabetic patients remains difficult.

Objective: To assess the efficacy and acceptability of rilmenidine in first intention in hypertensive diabetics.

Methods: In a population of 18 235 hypertensive patients, the sub-population of diabetic patients was followed-up in an open study over one year. These patients were initially treated with 1 mg/day of rilmenidine with the possibility of adapting the dose - increasing to 2 mg/d and association with a second or even third anti-hypertensor, left to the discretion of the physician - when the diastolic blood pressure remained strictly greater than 90 mmHg.

Results: The complete blood pressure data over a period of 12 months were obtained in 2 311 patients out of 2 738 (84.4%). After 12 months' treatment, 75.9% of the 2 311 patients were normalized by the monotherapy with rilmenidine (diastolic blood pressure<90 mmHg according to the recommendations in force at the time of the study). The clinical acceptability was good and comparable to that obtained in the general population of 18 235 hypertensive patients. The biological parameters remained stable.

Conclusion: This pharmaco-epidemiological assessment demonstrates, in conditions of current practice, the anti-hypertensive efficacy and acceptability of rilmenidine in hypertensive diabetics, therefore confirming its place in the therapeutic arsenal of these patients.