A twelve-week open trial investigating the effect and tolerance of ramipril in 685 patients with mild to moderate hypertension in 88 clinics mostly of general practitioners (list with the author). The antihypertensive effect was investigated after 4, 8 and 12 weeks. The trial was terminated consistent with the protocol by 501 (73.1%) patients, 36 (5.3%) were eliminated early and in 148 (21.6%) the prescribed protocol was not respected. 413 patients (82.4%) terminated the trial on monotherapy, the remaining 88 (17.6%) had combined treatment from the 8th week onwards. When the trial with monotherapy was terminated the drop of blood pressure was more marked already during the 4th week and this trend proceeded during the 8th and 12th week, while in patients who had combined treatment from the 8th week the authors did not observe a drop of the blood pressure between the 4th and 8th week. The investigated laboratory indicators displayed insignificant changes within the range of normal values. The preparation was well tolerated, the total number of undesirable effects was 11% (three patients discontinued because of a cough). The effectiveness was evaluated by the attending physician as very good in 88%, the tolerance in 97%.

Keywords: Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors /adverse effects/; Antihypertensive Agents /adverse effects/; Blood Pressure /drug effects/; Female; Humans; Hypertension /drug therapy/; Male; Middle Aged; Ramipril /adverse effects/