RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Fosinopril is a new phosphorous containing angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor. To assess the antihypertensive efficacy and safety of fosinopril, the clinical trial was done in patients with mild to moderate hypertension. METHODS: In 30 patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension, we administered fosinopril 10-20mg once daily for 10 weeks and checked their blood pressure every 2 weeks. RESULTS: The blood pressure decreased from 158+/-12.3/103.4+/-4.2mmHg to 139+/-7.5/88.4+/-5.9mmHg at the end of treatment(p<0.05). Heart rate did not change significantly during therapeutic period. Of 30 patients, the efficacy of fosinopril therapy disclosed 25 patients(83.7%) with normal diastolic pressure of more than 10mmHg decline of diastolic blood pressure. But two patients had no effects and three patients were not followed up. The adverse reactions due to fosinopril were reported in 3 patients(10%) with dry cough, 2 patients with palpitation(6.7%) and 1 patient with weakness(3.3%), but there were no patients who discontinued fosinopril due to adverse effect. CONCLUSION: Fosinopril has an excellent antihypertensive effect at low dosage as a first line antihypertensive agent or as a substituting agent for other antihypertensives in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension.