The incidence of cough: A comparison of lisinopril, placebo and telmisartan, a novel angiotensin II antagonist

Dry cough is a troublesome side-effect associated with certain antihyperten sive agents that act by modulating aspects of the renin-angiotensin-aldoste rone system. The incidence of dry cough associated with two of these therap ies, the novel All receptor antagonist telmisartan and the ACE inhibitor li sinopril, was assessed in a multicentre, randomised, parallel-group, double -blind, placebo-controlled, 8-week study of 88 patients with mild to modera te hypertension who previously demonstrated ACE inhibitor-related cough. Pa tients received either telmisartan 80 mg, lisinopril 20 mg, or placebo once daily. Cough incidence, measured at each visit by a self-administered symp tom assessment questionnaire, was significantly higher with lisinopril (60% ) than with telmisartan (15.6%) or placebo (9.7%). A visual analogue scale demonstrated a similar trend for cough frequency. Thus the incidence of cou gh with telmisartan 80 mg is significantly less;than that seen with lisinop ril 20 mg and is comparable to placebo.