The added hypotensive effect of
bevantolol, a new cardioselective beta-blocker, was studied in 244 patients with mild to moderate
essential hypertension following prior treatment with
hydrochlorothiazide or placebo. After four weeks of monotherapy with 50 mg/day or 100 mg/day of
hydrochlorothiazide or placebo, the mean diastolic blood pressure of the patients in these groups decreased from baseline by 8.6, 8.8, and 4.3 mmHg, respectively. During the subsequent four weeks of dual
therapy with 400 mg/day of
bevantolol added to the regimen, additional and uniform mean decreases of 7.5, 7.3, and 7.5 mmHg occurred, providing total mean diastolic pressure decreases from baseline of 16.1, 16.1, and 11.8 mmHg in the three groups, respectively. These diastolic pressures were significantly lower during dual
therapy than during monotherapy and lower in both
diuretic groups than in the placebo group during monotherapy and dual
therapy (P less than 0.001). Fewer adverse reactions occurred during dual
therapy than during monotherapy. The addition of
bevantolol to a
thiazide diuretic regimen provided safe and significantly better control of mild to moderate
hypertension than did the
diuretic alone.