Blood pressure and hormonal responses to sublingual nifedipine in acute childhood hypertension.

Twelve infants and children were treated with sublingual application of the calcium antagonist nifedipine. Blood pressure fell within 1 h following administration of nifedipine to age-related normal values. Whereas plasma renin activity, plasma concentrations of aldosterone and arginine vasopressin did not change within 1 h after drug application, plasma noradrenaline rose (p less than 0.05), probably in response to vasodilatation. Plasma concentration of nifedipine at 30 and 60 min after application correlated positively with the fall in mean arterial pressure. Nifedipine was well tolerated and appeared to be an effective and safe drug in the treatment of acute rises of blood pressure in infants and children.