Efficacy and tolerance of low-dose loop diuretics in hypertension.

Prospective studies have emphasized the key role for diuretics in the treatment of high blood pressure. Short-acting loop diuretics have not achieved the same acceptance as the thiazides in treatment of hypertension. Newer long-acting compounds, however, such as torasemide, have now been found to be as efficacious as the thiazides, particularly as they can be given once daily and have a low side-effect profile. Adverse laboratory side-effects are rare in hypertensive patients treated with torasemide; carbohydrate intolerance, dyslipidaemia, or hypokalaemia have seldom been observed during its long-term administration. For these reasons, torasemide is therapeutically attractive due to its antihypertensive efficacy with once-daily administration, low incidence of adverse side-effects, and sustained improvement of the cardiovascular risk profile.