Effects of calcium channel blocker benidipine-based combination therapy on target blood pressure control and cardiovascular outcome: a sub-analysis of the COPE trial

We compared three benidipine-based regimens—that is, benidipine plus angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB), β-blocker (BB) or thiazide—and found that the benidipine–BB combination was less beneficial in reducing the risk of stroke than the benidipine–thiazide combination. This sub-analysis sought to compare the effects of reaching a target blood pressure (BP) (<140/90 mm Hg) on the cardiovascular outcomes among the three benidipine-based treatment groups in the Combination Therapy of Hypertension to Prevent Cardiovascular Events trial. This sub-analysis included 3001 subjects to evaluate the achievement of target BP at a minimum of three points at 6-month intervals of clinical BP measurements during the study period. After randomization, the patients were categorized into two groups on the basis of achieved on-treatment target BP: a good control (GC) group achieving a BP⩾66.7% of the target and a poor control (PC) group with a BP <66.6% of the target. For each of the two control groups, outcomes were compared among the three treatment groups. The event rates for cardiovascular composite endpoints, stroke and hard cardiovascular events were higher in the PC group than the GC group ( P =0.041, P =0.042 and P =0.038, respectively). Within the PC group, hazard ratios for the incidence of cardiovascular events were lower in the benidipine–thiazide group than in the benidipine–BB group (composite cardiovascular events: 2.04, P =0.033; stroke: 4.14, P =0.005; and hard cardiovascular events: 3.52, P =0.009). Within the GC group, the incidence of cardiovascular events was not different among the three treatment regimens. The benidipine–thiazide combination may provide better cardiovascular outcomes than the benidipine–BB combination even in patients with poor BP control.