[The clinical profile of hypertensive patients can predict the need for combining a second or third drug with atenolol in the initial treatment of light and moderate essential arterial hypertension].
In this study the clinical, biological, radiologic, electrocardiographic, and hormonal characteristics of 80 patients with slight or moderate essential arterial hypertension in whom the treatment with atenolol alone or associated with chlorthalidone or with a third agent normalized the arterial pressure during a period of one year, are revised. Atenolol given alone at the dose of 50 to 100 mg per day normalized the blood tension in 44 (55%) patients, in 26 cases (32.5%) the association of chlorthalidone 25 mg/day was required, and in the remaining 10 patients (12.5%) a third pharmacologic agent was needed. Patients who required the association of three agents (group C) had systolic arterial pressures significantly higher than those observed in patients treated with atenolol alone (group A) (176.6 +/- 14.3 vs 161.4 +/- 12.9 mmHg, p less than 0.01) and higher to those measured in patients who required the association of chlorthalidone (group B) (176.6 +/- 14.3 vs 162.8 +/- 15 mmHg, p less than 0.05). On the other hand the 44 hypertensive patients controlled with monotherapy showed a lower incidence of cardiovascular complications (6.8% in group A, 38.5% in group B, and 30% in group C, p = 0.0042), they required acute treatment for hypertensive crisis (34.1% in group A, 73.1% in group B, and 66.7% in group C, p = 0.0041), and they showed electrocardiographic signs of left ventricular hypertrophy or overload (26.2% in group A, 60% in group B, and 42.9% in group C, p = 0.0228).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)