A clinical trial was done to evaluate the antihypertensive efficacy and side effects of captopril(Capril®), an angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitor, in patients with mild to moderate essential hypertension.

Captopril was given 25-50mg a day to 46 patients(mean age : 51.3±8.9 years, 21 males and 25 females) for 8 weeks.

The blood pressure dropped significantly in 2 weeks and well maintained throughout 8 weeks of study period(p<0.01). The mean pressure drop was 14.4/8mmHg at 8 weeks without any changes of heart rate. The blood pressure was not dropped in 13 cases(28.3%). There were no significant changes in CBC, urinalysis and blood chemistry(sugar, lipids, electrolytes, creatinine, protein, albumin, AST and ALT) during this trial. The side effects were observed in 20 cases(43.5%). The most frequent was cough(19 cases, 413%) and the others were dysgeusia, dry eyes and edema in each respectively.

Captopril(Capril®) monotherapy with 25-50mg a day regimen was effective in patient with mild to moderate essential hypertension, but somewhat high episodes of cough were observed in this trial.