Nifedipine in hypertensive emergencies of children.

We studied the acute antihypertensive effect of sublingually administered nifedipine in 21 patients with different clinical diagnoses. Nifedipine lowered systolic and diastolic BP from 181 +/- 18 and 136 +/- 21 mm Hg to 132 +/- 15 and 98 +/- 17 mm Hg, respectively, after 30 minutes, and produced a slight increase in heart rate. This is the first known study of administration of nifedipine for acute hypertension in children.