June 16, 2007 – Milan, Italy – The first study to assess the effect of a fixed-dose combination in persons with hypertension and the metabolic syndrome showed that perindopril/indapamide reduced blood pressure and provided good control rates. The OPTIMAX 2 results were presented by Prof. J.J. Mourad, Avicenne Hospital, Bobigny, France at the 17th European Meeting on Hypertension, held in Milan from June 15-19, 2007.
In this prospective, observational, pharmaco-epidemiologic study, 24,069 persons (age 62 years, 56% men, 18% diabetes) were followed for 6 months. Baseline blood pressure was 162/93 mmHg. Using ATP III criteria, 7,322 persons (30.4%) had the metabolic syndrome (MetSyn); 35.2% were women and 20.1% men.
Systolic blood pressure was reduced by 22.6 mmHg in the persons with MetSyn and by 22.7 mmHg in those without MetSyn with the fixed-dose combination. Control rates were 66.4% in those with MetSyn and 67.7% in those without MetSyn. Factors associated with blood pressure control were female sex, no diabetes, no left ventricular hypertrophy, and no renal impairment.
Mourad stated that the fixed-dose combination of perindopril/indapamide is a useful combination for starting or changing therapy or for adding therapy.