[Long-term hypotensive treatment by butofilolol]

Eighteen patients, most of them plethoric, exhibiting stage I, II or III permanent essential hypertension, were treated following reduction of their weight excess with moderate doses of butofilolol. The minimum duration of treatment was 6 months; 5 patients received the drug for more than 1 year, and the last 3 for more than 18 months. An antihypertensive effect of butofilolol was observed in 11 of 18 cases. It was deemed very good or good in 9 patients, i.e. 50 p. cent; this is the usual rate of efficacy of beta-blocking agents in this indication. The effective dose, administered as 1 or 2 daily doses, is 200 mg/day on an average (range 75-300). No true manifestation of clinical or biological intolerance was recorded, although the patients were continued on low-calorie diets, and some of them showed disturbances of glycoregulation. It is the author's opinion that butofilolol constitute a good therapeutic approach to hypertension in plethoric subjects, when the weight reduction has failed to correct it adequately--if at all.