Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibition in mild hypertension with concomitant diseases and therapies: an efficacy, safety, and compatibility study of novel design, the Perindopril Therapeutic Safety Study

Abstract

Despite a marked reduction in cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, treated hypertensive patients remain at increased risk of coronary artery disease and its complications compared with untreated normotensive subjects. Mild hypertension is often associated with other, usually chronic, diseases. The failure of first-line antihypertensive therapy to deal adequately with concomitant disease and associated therapy might account for the poor improvement in the cardiovascular prognosis. This possibility has been addressed in an ongoing trial of novel design, the Perindopril Therapeutic Safety Study, a multicenter, double-blind, randomized and placebo-controlled trial to determine the safety, efficacy, and interaction of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition with eight of the most common concomitant diseases and their therapies. A total of 480 male and female patients (60 per disease group) aged 30-70 years, with a diastolic pressure of 90-104 mm Hg, were included after a 3-week placebo run-in if they satisfied standard criteria for any of the following: hyperlipidemia, type II diabetes, ischemic heart disease, cardiac arrhythmia, peripheral arterial disease, nephropathy with proteinuria, chronic obstructive lung disease, or rheumatoid arthritis. Of these, 460 patients have completed the 6-week double-blind phase (comprising two assessments, at 3 and 6 weeks), and are currently undergoing assessments every 3 months over a 1-year follow-up period. The end points include the incidence of progression or improvement in concomitant disease, the incidence of positive or negative interaction between ACE inhibition and concomitant therapy, change in blood pressure, adverse biochemical and hemodynamic reactions, self-reported side effects, and quality of life indices. Interim results for the 6-week double blind phase will shortly be available. However, the desirability and feasibility of conducting a study according to this novel design have already been proved.