Treatment of chronic hypertension with intravenous enalaprilat and transdermal clonidine

We report an 11-year-old boy with hypertension and chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, which renders him totally dependent on parenteral nutrition and prevents the use of oral medications. Here we report the feasibility of utilizing chronic IV enalaprilat and transdermal clonidine on a chronic basis to control hypertension. Over the last 10 months, the patient's hypertension has been well controlled by 1.25 mg IV enalaprilat every 8 h and a 0.2-mg clonidine patch every 6 days, with no apparent side-effects. There are no reports of IV enalaprilat usage exceeding 3 weeks' duration. Therefore we believe that it is possible to effect reasonable management of chronic hypertension with the use of chronic IV enalaprilat and transdermal clonidine therapy.