Japanese journal of pharmacology
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Comparative Study
Comparison of sublingual captopril and sublingual nifedipine in hypertensive emergencies.
Hypertensive crises require immediate therapy, usually by parenteral drug administration. Sublingual nifedipine has been shown to be highly effective. However, the blood pressure fall following nifedipine is frequently associated with side-effects. ⋯ Heart rates increased with nifedipine, but decreased with captopril. We observed no side-effects in the captopril group, but flushing, tachycardia and headache were observed in 6 patients in the nifedipine group. We conclude that sublingual captopril is effective in patients with hypertensive emergencies and that captopril may be an excellent alternative to sublingual nifedipine in the urgent treatment of hypertensive crisis.