Drug class
Antihypertensive vasodilator - hydralazine "lowers blood pressure by exerting a peripheral vasodilating effect through a direct relaxation of vascular smooth muscle," believed to act by "altering cellular calcium metabolism" in the vessel wall.
Uses
Hydralazine hydrochloride tablets are indicated for the treatment of "essential hypertension, alone or as an adjunct."
Warnings
Contraindicated in patients with hypersensitivity to hydralazine, coronary artery disease, and mitral valvular rheumatic heart disease. Key warning: hydralazine "may produce a clinical picture simulating systemic lupus erythematosus including glomerulonephritis"; symptoms typically regress on discontinuation, though residual abnormalities have occasionally persisted.
Side effects
Common reactions include "headache, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, palpitations, tachycardia, angina pectoris." Less frequent reactions include peripheral neuritis, hypotension, cardiac arrhythmias, and blood dyscrasias.