Treatment of hypertension in renal allograft patients: does drug selection make a difference?

Recent trials have suggested that control of mild to moderate hypertension can slow progression of many forms of chronic renal disease. These findings may apply to renal transplant hypertension. Renal transplant hypertension, however, does not always behave like other forms of hypertension. Thus, clinical trials have not yet shown that blood pressure control will alter the progression of "chronic rejection." What's more, which of the classes of antihypertensive agents might be most effective is also not certain. Most trials suggest that calcium inhibitors and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors have similar effects on blood pressure and glomerular filtration rate in hypertensive transplant patients.