Effect Of Combination Therapy With Benazepril/Amlodipine Compared With Benazepril/Hydrochlorothiazide In Patients With High-Risk, Stage 2 Hypertension With Or Without Known Coronary Artery Disease

Combination therapy with benazepril 40 mg/amlodipine 10 mg (B+A) has been shown to be more effective than benazepril 40 mg/HCTZ 25 mg (B+H) in reducing cardiovascular (CV) events in high risk patients (pts) with stage 2 hypertension (HTN) at equivalent blood pressure (BP) reduction. While patients with angina or recent CV events were excluded from the study the known effectiveness of amlodipine in pts with coronary artery disease (CAD) prospectively raised the question as to whether B+A would be more effective than B+H in reducing CV events in pts without known CAD (non CAD) at baseline. At baseline there were significant differences between the 5314 CAD and the 6191 non CAD pts. CAD pts had lower SBP and pulse, less stroke and diabetes, more dyslipidemia and more on lipid-lowering agents, beta-blockers and anti-platelets. However, there were no differences at baseline between B+A and B+H in either the CAD or non CAD pts. In pts with CAD the mean BP for B+A and B+H was 143.9 and 144.2 mmHg (146.5 and 146....