Disparities in blood pressure control under various antihypertensive regimens.

Ambulatory blood pressure recordings and stress blood pressures during exercise were compared among hypertensive patients effectively treated with oxprenolol, nitrendipine, enalapril or low-dose clonidine. After 6 months of therapy, the means of blood pressure at rest and casual diastolic pressure were nearly identical among the four therapeutic groups. Although all pressures fell to within the normotensive range, casual systolic pressures were lower in patients treated with sympatholytic agents than in those taking enalapril. In contrast, average ambulatory blood pressure was less controlled in patients given clonidine or enalapril than in those given oxprenolol or nitrendipine. During physical stress patients taking clonidine showed the highest stress blood pressures and those taking oxprenolol the lowest pressures. The study demonstrated that although blood pressure was reduced to within the normotensive range in all four therapeutic groups, analysis of values of ambulatory blood pressure and stress blood pressure during physical activity showed a disparate pattern of antihypertensive efficacy.