Alfuzosin can prompt significant BP drop in hypertensives

By Reuters Staff

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - In men with lower urinary tract symptoms suggestive of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH/LUTS) and untreated or uncontrolled hypertension, alfuzosin can lead to a significant drop in blood pressure (BP), according to Korean researchers.

In a January 17th online paper in Clinical Interventions in Aging, Dr. Jong Kwan Park of Chonbuk National University Hospital, Jeonju and colleagues note that because of the potential BP-lowering effects of such alpha blockers, "physicians have long pondered how to treat patients suffering from BPH if they are already on antihypertensive medication."

The dilemma, they go on to say, "is whether such patients should be treated with alfuzosin to relieve the symptoms of BPH or not because of the potentially increased risk of hypotensive episodes."

The researchers examined integrated data from 11 randomized, open-label studies of men with BPH/LUTS who received alfuzosin 10 mg for up to 12 weeks with or without antihypertensive medication.

In all, 100 patients in the alfuzosin monotherapy group and 112 in the combination group completed treatment and were included. Their mean age was 64 years.

The researchers found no clinically significant mean BP changes in the normotensive patients in the monotherapy group. This was also the case for those with controlled hypertension in the combination group.

However, alfuzosin alone or combined with antihypertensive therapy produced clinically and statistically significant decreases in systolic and diastolic BP in untreated hypertensive patients in the monotherapy group and in patients with uncontrolled hypertension in the combination group (p<0.001).

In the short term, say the investigators, the study "indicates the efficacy and safety of alfuzosin 10 mg alone or in combination with other antihypertensive medications in patients with BPH/LUTS."

However, they conclude that "patients with uncontrolled or untreated hypertension require careful evaluation before initiation of treatment with alfuzosin 10 mg to treat BPH/LUTS."

Dr. Park did not respond to requests for comments.

This research was sponsored by the Research Foundation of the Korean Society for Sexual Medicine and Andrology, which received funding from Handok Pharmaceuticals. Nine authors report making presentations for Handok Pharmaceuticals; no other authors report any disclosure.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1zCViaE

Clin Interv Aging 2015.

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