Losartan

From Ganfyd

Contents 1 Introduction 2 Administration 3 Side effects 4 Interactions 5 Special advice 6 References

Introduction

Indications: hypertension, including patients with left ventricular hypertrophy; diabetic nephropathy in type 2 diabetes mellitus, chronic heart failure (in patients ≥ 60 years) Due to its inhibition of urate transporter 1 it is the sartan of choice in gout^[1].

Administration

Oral:

usually 50 mg once daily (elderly over 75 years, moderate to severe renal impairment, intravascular volume depletion, initially 25 mg once daily); if necessary increased after several weeks to 100 mg once daily. However, there is some debate as to the benefit of increasing the dose from 50 mg to 100 mg. See the NLH Q&A Service answer Is there any evidence that increasing dose losartan from 50mg to 100mg reduces BP further? There is however some evidence that 150mg daily improves clinical outcomes in patients with heart failure compared to 50mg daily, in patients with heart failure and intolerance to ACE inhibitors. This is also consistent with work that suggests doses of losartan greater than 50mg daily has equivilent outcomes to candesartan in heart failure.

Side effects

Diarrhoea, taste disturbance, cough, myalgia, asthenia, fatigue, migraine, vertigo, urticaria, pruritus, rash; rarely hepatitis, anaemia (in severe renal disease or following renal transplant), vasculitis (including Henoch-Schönlein purpura)

Interactions

• Lithium enhanced risk toxicity
• NSAIDs - renal failure

Special advice

References