A large, randomized international trial assessing the benefits of giving blood pressure-lowering medications to hypertensive patients aged 80 and older has been halted early because treatment significantly reduced the incidence of stroke and mortality, compared with those who did not receive treatment.
Launched in 2001, the double-blind, placebo-controlled study, known as the Hypertension in the Very Elderly Trial (HYVET), enrolled 3,845 patients with high blood pressure aged 80 and older. Patients took either the placebo or indapamide 1.5 mg and perindopril once a day.
“It was not clear prior to our study whether the over-80s would benefit from blood pressure-lowering medication in the same way as younger people,” the study's primary investigator, Dr. Chris Bulpitt, professor of geriatric medicine at Imperial College London, said in a prepared statement. “Our results are great news for people in this age group because they suggest … such treatment can cut their chances of dying as well as stroke.”
Specific data from the trial have not been released but are expected to appear in the peer-reviewed medical literature. In the meantime, study participants who were on the trial medication will have the option to switch to active indapamide 1.5 mg SR at their final visit.
The British Heart Foundation and the Institut de Recherches Internationales Servier funded the study, which is the largest of its kind.