Efficacy and safety of irbesartan/HCTZ in severe hypertension according to cardiometabolic factors.

This post hoc analysis of a 7-week, randomized, double-blind trial evaluated the efficacy and safety of initial irbesartan/hydrochlorothiazide treatment in 468 patients with severe, uncontrolled, hypertension (diastolic blood pressure [DBP] > or =100 mm Hg) at high cardiovascular risk. Systolic blood pressure (SBP)/DBP reductions ranged from 28.0 to 42.9/22.9 to 27.2 mm Hg in patients with obesity, diabetes, baseline SBP > or =180 mm Hg, and in the elderly. Blood pressure control to <140/90 mm Hg in the age and obesity subgroups ranged from 32.1% to 39.2% while control to <130/80 mm Hg in patients with diabetes was 11.5%. After 1 week of therapy, 72.5% of patients no longer had SBP > or =180 mm Hg; by 7 weeks, 51.3% had SBP 140 to 159 mm Hg and 26.5% had SBP <140 mm Hg. Treatment was well tolerated regardless of the subgroup. No excess of prespecified events was noted. Thus, initial treatment with irbesartan/hydrochlorothiazide was rapidly effective in high-risk, difficult-to-treat, severely hypertensive patients.