1. ¹University of Virginia Hospital West, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
2. ²Department of Urology, St. George's Hospital, London, UK

Correspondence: WD Steers, University of Virginia Hospital West, 1222 Jefferson Park Ave., Charlottesville, VA 22908, USA. E-mail: wds6t@virginia.edu

Received 18 July 2003; Revised 17 November 2003; Accepted 3 December 2003; Published online 15 February 2005.

Abstract

Clinical studies have demonstrated that doxazosin therapy reduced blood pressure (BP) in patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) who were hypertensive at baseline but not in patients who were physiologically or pharmacologically normotensive at baseline. In patients with BPH and uncontrolled hypertension, despite treatment with other antihypertensive drugs, the addition of doxazosin resulted in improved control with significant reductions in BP. The new formulation, doxazosin gastrointestinal therapeutic system (GITS), is initiated at a therapeutic dose, simplifying dose titration. Based on its efficacy and pharmacokinetic and tolerability profiles, doxazosin GITS is an effective and well-tolerated treatment for normotensive and hypertensive patients with BPH.