scholarly journals Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, and long-acting nitrates for patients with stable angina and low blood pressure levels: should this recommendation be reconsidered?

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (3) ◽  
pp. 479-479 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manolis S Kallistratos ◽  
Leonidas E Poulimenos ◽  
Athanasios J Manolis
Author(s):  
Sloane A McGraw ◽  
Michael Scholfield ◽  
Ragu Murthy ◽  
Burhan Mohamedali ◽  
Anupama Shivaraju ◽  
...  

Background: Control of blood pressure (BP) in patients with underlying coronary artery disease (CAD) provides a decreased risk in morbidity and mortality. According to the US Joint National Committee VII (JNC-7) recommendations, patients with underlying CAD should have goal blood pressures of systolic <130 and diastolic <80. These goals can be attained by using multiple classes of drugs including beta-blockers (BB), angiotensin agonists (ACE-I/ARB), calcium channel blockers (CCB), diuretics and nitrates. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study focusing on attaining JNC-7 guidelines for BP in a diverse population of 772 patients undergoing PCI between September 2004 and September 2008 at the Jesse Brown Veterans Hospital in Chicago, IL. Data was collected which compared both BP measurements and antihypertensive regimens pre and post PCI. Results: For the 772 patients, the overall population mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreased from 134 to 128mmHg (p < 0.0001) and mean diastolic blood pressure (DBP) decreased from 73 to 70mmHg (p < 0.0001). With regards to JNC-7 guidelines, the percent of patients who reached SBP goals increased from 44 to 54% (340 to 417 of 772) (p < 0.0001) and with DBP goals rose from 72 to 78% (556 to 602 of 772) (p = 0.0031). At 6 months, there was a statistically significant (all p values <0.0001) change in the use of each drug class; the use of ACE-I/ARB increased from 64% (494 out of 772) to 76% (587 of 772) and BB from 73% (564 of 772) to 89% (687 of 772). There was also increased utilization of diuretics 41% (317 of 772) to 43% (332 of 772) and nitrates 23% (178 of 772) to 29% (224 of 772), however a decrease in the use of calcium channel blockers, 34% (262 of 772) to 31% (239 of 772). Conclusions: There was improvement in BP in the six months after PCI and although there were higher rates of attainment of JNC-7 goals for SBP and DBP at six months, overall percentage values are still suboptimal. Additionally, the medication usage improved in most drug classes with exception of calcium channel blockers; however these increases still leave some room for improvement.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
James P. Sheppard ◽  
Mark Lown ◽  
Jenni Burt ◽  
Gary A. Ford ◽  
F. D. Richard Hobbs ◽  
...  

Aims: Deprescribing of antihypertensive drugs is recommended for some older patients with polypharmacy, but there is little evidence to inform which drug (or dose) should be withdrawn. This study used data from the OPTiMISE trial to examine whether short-term outcomes of deprescribing vary by drug class and dose of medication withdrawn.Methods: The OPTiMISE trial included patients aged ≥80 years with controlled systolic blood pressure (SBP; &lt;150 mmHg), receiving ≥2 antihypertensive medications. This study compared SBP control, mean change in SBP and frequency of adverse events after 12 weeks in participants stopping one medication vs. usual care, by drug class and equivalent dose of medication withdrawn. Equivalent dose was determined according to the defined daily dose (DDD) of each medication type. Drugs prescribed below the DDD were classed as low dose and those prescribed at ≥DDD were described as higher dose. Outcomes were examined by generalized linear mixed effects models.Results: A total of 569 participants were randomized, aged 85 ± 3 years with controlled blood pressure (mean 130/69 mmHg). Within patients prescribed calcium channel blockers, higher dose medications were more commonly selected for withdrawal (90 vs. 10%). In those prescribed beta-blockers, low dose medications were more commonly chosen (87 vs. 13%). Withdrawal of calcium channel blockers was associated with an increase in SBP (5 mmHg, 95%CI 0–10 mmHg) and reduced SBP control (adjusted RR 0.89, 95%CI 0.80–0.998) compared to usual care. In contrast, withdrawal of beta-blockers was associated with no change in SBP (−4 mmHg, 95%CI −10 to 2 mmHg) and no difference in SBP control (adjusted RR 1.15, 95%CI 0.96–1.37). Similarly, withdrawal of higher dose medications was associated with an increase in SBP but no change in BP control. Withdrawal of lower dose medications was not associated with a difference in SBP or SBP control. There was no association between withdrawal of specific drug classes and adverse events.Conclusion: These exploratory data suggest withdrawal of higher dose calcium channel blockers should be avoided if the goal is to maintain BP control. However, low dose beta-blockers may be removed with little impact on blood pressure over 12-weeks of follow-up. Larger studies are needed to confirm these associations.


Author(s):  
Chris Healy ◽  
Sloane A McGraw ◽  
Burhan Mohamedali ◽  
Anupama Shivaraju ◽  
Michael Scholfield ◽  
...  

Background: Blood pressure (BP) control in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) decreases morbidity and mortality. The US Joint National Committee VII (JNC-7) recommends patients with underlying CAD have a goal systolic blood pressure (SBP) < 130 and a diastolic blood pressure (DBP) < 80. These goals can be achieved by using multiple classes of drugs, including beta-blockers (BB), angiotensin antagonists (ACE-I/ARB), calcium channel blockers (CCB), diuretics, and nitrates. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study focusing on the attainment of JNC-7 recommended BP goals in a diverse population of 857 veterans undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) between September 2004 and December 2009 at the Jesse Brown Veterans Hospital in Chicago, IL. Data was collected comparing both BP measurements and anti-hypertensive regimens pre and post PCI. Results: In the 857 patients studied, the mean SBP decreased from 134 mm Hg to 129 mm Hg (p<0.0001), and the mean DBP decreased from 73 mm Hg to 71 mm Hg (p<0.0001). In regards to the JNC-7 guidelines, the percent of patients who achieved SBP goals increased from 44% to 54% (377 to 463 of 857) (p<0.0001), and the percent of patients who achieved DBP goals increased from 71% to 78% (608 to 668 of 857) (p<0.0001). There was a change in the use of each drug class; the use of ACE-I/ARB increased from 72% to 89% (617 to 763 out of 857) (p<0.0001), the use of BB increased from 63% to 76% (540 to 651 out of 857) (p<0.0001), the use of diuretics increased from 41% to 43% (351 to 369 out of 857) (p=0.2997), and the use nitrates increased from 24% to 29% (206 to 249 out of 857) (p=0.0007). The use of CCB, however, decreased from 34% to 30% (291 to 257 out of 857) (p=0.0121). Conclusions: There was improvement in both mean BP and percentage of patients achieving JNC-7 recommended goals for SBP & DBP at six months post PCI, though overall percentages still remain suboptimal. Additionally, medication use improved in most drug classes, with the exception of calcium channel blockers. In particular, both beta-blocker and angiotensin antagonist use increased significantly.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document