Drugs Five Years Later

Abstract

The advent of calcium (slow-channel) blockers introduced a potent new pharmacologic tool to cardiovascular therapy. Among these agents, the dihydropyridines have been shown to be the most potent vasodilators and the uses for their clinically available representative, nifedipine, in particular, have expanded. Beyond the standard use of nifedipine to treat various ischemic heart disorders, the drug's potent vasodilatory properties often make it a powerful antihypertensive agent. Although dihydropyridines might be effective in the treatment of other disorders such as central nervous system vascular accidents, some valvular heart disorders, hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, pulmonary hypertension, and perhaps antiatherogenesis, nifedipine's clinical role remains the treatment of myocardial ischemia and systemic hypertension.