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Event-based clinical outcome trials have shown limited evidence to support guidelines recommendations to lower blood pressure (BP) to n = 5250) were compared with the entire VALUE population with high CV risk (n = 15,245). After adjustments for baseline differences between groups, a reduction in the proportion of visits in which BP was reduced to

Objective: Delays in achieving blood pressure (BP) control may increase morbidity and mortality in patients with hypertension. Thus, deciding which antihypertensive agent to use and at what dosage, in addition to determining when to initiate combination therapy and which agents to combine, is important for achieving BP control. Methods: This randomized, double-blind, 14-week study was conducted to compare the efficacy and tolerability of various doses of valsartan ± hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) versus amlodipine ± HCTZ for maximizing BP control in 1,285 patients with uncontrolled hypertension. Patients with stage 1 hypertension and naïve to antihypertensive therapy (33.9%) started valsartan 160 mg or amlodipine 5 mg. Treatment-naïve patients with stage 2 hypertension (13.5%) or those uncontrolled on current antihypertensive monotherapy (52.6%) started valsartan 160 mg/HCTZ 12.5 mg or amlodipine 10 mg. At weeks 4, 8, and 11, patients not achieving BP control were up-titrated (maximum: valsartan 320 mg/HCTZ 25 mg, amlodipine 10 mg/HCTZ 25 mg). Results: At study end, 78.8% of patients on valsartan ± HCTZ were controlled (BP

J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2012;14:773–778. ©2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Postmenopausal women are at greater risk for hypertension‐related cardiovascular disease. Antihypertensive therapy may help alleviate arterial stiffness that represents a potential modifiable risk factor of hypertension. This randomized controlled study investigated the difference between an angiotensin receptor blocker and a calcium channel blocker in reducing arterial stiffness. Overall, 125 postmenopausal hypertensive women (age, 61.4±6 years; systolic blood pressure/diastolic blood pressure [SBP/DBP], 158±11/92±9 mm Hg) were randomized to valsartan 320 mg±hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) (n=63) or amlodipine 10 mg±HCTZ (n=62). The primary outcome was carotid‐to‐femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) changes after 38 weeks of treatment. Both treatments lowered peripheral blood pressure (BP) (−22.9/−10.9 mm Hg for valsartan and −25.2/−11.7 mm Hg for amlodipine, P=not significant) and central BP (−15.7/−7.6 mm Hg for valsartan and −19.2/−10.3 mm Hg for amlodipine, P