Twenty pregnant women with mild to moderate
hypertension were treated with either
methyldopa or
acebutolol, a
beta-adrenergic blocking agent with cardioselectivity and intrinsic
sympathomimetic activity, in a prospective open study. The two groups were comparable, although some selection bias may have been present. The dose of either
drug was adjusted to attain a diastolic blood pressure of 80 mmHg or less, and 2 of the
acebutolol group and 1 of the
methyldopa group required the addition of
hydralazine to achieve this. There were no still births or neo-natal deaths in either group. There was no difference discernible between the groups in duration of pregnancy,
birth weight. Apgar score or placental weight, and no evidence of
bradycardia, hypoglycaemia or respiratory difficulty in the babies born to mothers taking
acebutolol. Fewer side-effects seemed to be present in the
acebutolol group, and the mean period of hospitalization during pregnancy was 8 days in these patients compared with 14 days in the
methyldopa group (p less than 0.01). The results of this pilot study suggest that
acebutolol warrants further investigation as an effective and well-tolerated treatment of
hypertension in pregnancy.