Aim. To assess effectiveness and tolerability of combined antihypertensive therapy with various doses of an ACE inhibitor ramipril and hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) in patients with Stage 1-2 arterial hypertension (AH). Material and methods. In 3 clinical centres of Moscow City, 70 patients (50 % men, 50 % women; mean age 59±13,5 years) were randomised into 2 groups: Group I (n=27), receiving ramipril (5 mg) and HCT (25 mg); and Group II (n=32), receiving ramipril (10 mg) and HCT (12,5 mg). After 4 weeks of therapy, patients not achieving target blood pressure (BP) levels were administered ramipril in the dose of 10 mg and HCT in the dose of 25 mg. Therefore, the further 16-week follow-up was focused on 3 groups: Group I (n=18), receiving ramipril 5 mg and HCT 25 mg; Group II (n=19), receiving ramipril 10 mg and HCT 12,5 mg; and Group III (n=22), receiving ramipril 10 mg and HCT 25 mg. Treatment effectiveness was assessed by clinical BP levels after 4, 12 and 20 weeks. At baseline and in the end of the study, 24-hour BP monitoring (BPM), blood and urine biochemical assays were performed. Results. After 20 weeks of the therapy, clinical BP levels were reduced by -18,9±8,2/-10,8±7,5 mm Hg in patients receiving ramipril 5 mg and HCT 25 mg (p<0,001). In participants receiving ramipril 10 mg and HCT 12,5 mg, clinical BP levels decreased by -20,3±9,7/-11,6±6,0 mm Hg (p<0,001). The therapy with ramipril 10 mg and HCT 25 mg was associated with a reduction in clinical BP by -23,4±9,8/-10,6±7,8 mm Hg (p<0,001). According to 24-hour BPM data after 20 weeks of the treatment, mean circadian BP levels were reduced by -9,9±7,9/- 5,9±7,0 mm Hg (p<0,01) in Group I, by -15,8±13,2/-9,5±6,8 mm Hg (p<0,001) in Group II, and by -20,6±14,7/- 10,8±10,8 mm Hg (p<0,001) in Group III, respectively. Conclusion. In total, 92 % of the patients achieved target BP levels: 100 % in Group I, 100 % in Group II, and 86 % in Group III. Good and excellent therapy tolerability was observed in 96 %. Among patients with microalbuminuria at baseline, 41 % demonstrated its normalisation
