Telmisartan/amlodipine. Single-pill combination — role in antihypertensive therapy

Abstract

Available data suggest that around 80% of patients will require combination therapy to achieve contemporary blood pressure targets, and increasing emphasis is being placed on the practical tasks involved in consistently achieving and maintaining goal BP in clinical practice. Telmisartan/amlodipine is a single-pill combination of agents that has previously proven its efficacy in major clinical trials in subjects with hypertension, high cardiovascular risk and coronary heart disease.
In double blind, randomized trials administration of telmisartan/amlodipine fixed-dose combination (Twynsta) resulted in blood pressure control in 80% of subjects with stage 1 and 2 and 50% of patients with severe stage 3 hypertension. The combination provides rapid reduction in blood pressure achieving 80% of its effect within 2 weeks. Side effects are mild, with very low frequency, with discontinuation rate around 2%. Incidence of peripheral edema was lower with combination therapy than with amlodipine monotherapy. Combination of telmisartan/amlodipine can be used as an initial therapy in subjects with stage 2 or 3 hypertension as well as in patients not controlled on monotherapy.
Arterial Hypertension 2011, vol. 15, no 3, pages 188–200.