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Comparing calcium channel blockers with other drugs for treatment of hypertension
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Comparing calcium channel blockers with other drugs for treatment of hypertension
How do calcium channel blockers (CCB) compare with other classes of antihypertensive drugs in reducing the incidence of major adverse cardiovascular events?
First‐line CCBs do not affect total mortality as compared with other antihypertensive drug classes.
First‐line CCBs reduce major cardiovascular events, stroke and cardiovascular mortality as compared with beta‐blockers.
First‐line CCBs increase major cardiovascular and congestive heart failure events as compared with diuretics.
First‐line CCBs reduce stroke as compared with ACE inhibitors, and reduce myocardial infarction as compared with angiotensin II receptor blockers, but they increase congestive heart failure events as compared with both ACE inhibitors and ARBs.
The review shows an advantage of diuretics over CCBs in reducing major cardiovascular mortality and congestive heart failure events. Evidence supports CCBs over beta‐blockers in reducing major cardiovascular events, stroke and cardiovascular mortality.
It should be noted that many of the differences found in the current review are not robust, and further trials might change the conclusions. Therefore, it will be important to follow the research in this field closely and update this review when new data become available.
This is the first update of a review published in 2010. While CCBs are often recommended as a first‐line drug to treat hypertension, the effect of CCBs on the prevention of cardiovascular events, as compared with other antihypertensive drug classes, is still debated.
Zhu J, et al. Calcium channel blockers versus other classes of drugs for hypertension. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2022 1:CD003654. This review contains 23 trials with a total of 153,849 participants.