Included as part of the PRECAUTIONS section.

Fetal/Neonatal Morbidity and Mortality

Tekturna HCT can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. If this drug is used during pregnancy, or if the patient becomes pregnant while taking this drug, the patient should be apprised of the potential hazard to the fetus.

Drugs that act directly on the renin-angiotensin system can cause fetal and neonatal morbidity and death when administered to pregnant women. If this drug is used during pregnancy, or if the patient becomes pregnant while taking this drug, apprise the patient of the potential hazard to the fetus [See Use in Specific Populations]. In several dozen published cases, ACE inhibitors use during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy was associated with fetal and neonatal injury, including hypotension, neonatal skull hypoplasia, anuria, reversible or irreversible renal failure, and death. In addition, first trimester use of ACE inhibitors has been associated with birth defects. Thiazides cross the placenta, and use of thiazides during pregnancy is associated with a risk of fetal or neonatal jaundice, thrombocytopenia, and possible other adverse reactions that have occurred in adults.

Head and Neck Angioedema

Alisklren

Angioedema of the face, extremities, lips, tongue, glottis and/or larynx has been reported in patients treated with Tekturna and has necessitated hospitalization and intubation. This may occur at any time during treatment and has occurred in patients with and without a history of angioedema with ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor antagonists. If angioedema involves the throat, tongue, glottis or larynx, or if the patient has a history of upper respiratory surgery, airway obstruction may occur and be fatal. Patients who experience these effects, even without respiratory distress, require prolonged observation since treatment with antihistamines and corticosteroids may not be sufficient to prevent respiratory involvement. Prompt administration of subcutaneous epinephrine solution 1:1000 (0.3 to 0.5 ml) and measures to ensure a patient airway may be necessary.

Discontinue Tekturna immediately in patients who develop angioedema, and do not readminister.

Hypotension in Volume- and/or Salt-Depleted Patients

An excessive fall in blood pressure (hypotension) was rarely seen ( < 1%) in patients with uncomplicated hypertension treated with Tekturna HCT in controlled trials. In patients with an activated renin-angiotensin system, such as volume- and/or salt-depleted patients receiving high doses of diuretics, symptomatic hypotension may occur. Correct these conditions prior to administration of Tekturna HCT, or the treatment should start under close medical supervision.

If an excessive fall in blood pressure occurs, place the patient in the supine position and, if necessary, given an intravenous infusion of normal saline. A transient hypotensive response is not a contraindication to further treatment, which usually can be continued without difficulty once the blood pressure has stabilized.

Patients with Severe Renal Impairment

Tekturna HCT

In patients with severe renal impairment (GFR < 30 mL/min), loop diuretics are preferred to thiazides, so Tekturna HCT is not recommended.

Hydrochlorothiazide

Uptitrate slowly ;in patients with renal disease, thiazides may precipitate azotemia. Cumulative effects of the drug may develop in patients with impaired renal function.

Patients with Hepatic Impairment

Hydrochlorothiazide

Uptitrate slowly; minor alterations of fluid and electrolyte balance may precipitate hepatic coma.

Hypersensitivity Reactions

Hydrochlorothiazide

Hypersensitivity reactions to hydrochlorothiazide may occur in patients with or without a history of allergy or bronchial asthma, but are more likely in patients with such a history.

Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Hydrochlorothiazide

Thiazide diuretics have been reported to cause exacerbation or activation of systemic lupus erythematosus.

Lithium Interaction

Hydrochlorothiazide

Lithium generally should not be given with thiazides [See DRUG INTERACTIONS].

Serum Electrolyte Abnormalities

TekturnaHCT

In the short-term controlled trials of various doses of Tekturna HCT the incidence of hypertensive patients who developed hypokalemia (serum potassium < 3.5 mEq/L) was 2.2%; the incidence of hyperkalemia (serum potassium > 5.5 mEq/L) was 0.8%. No patients discontinued due to increase or decrease of serum potassium.

Periodic determinations of serum electrolytes to detect possible electrolyte imbalance should be performed at appropriate intervals. The intervals should be based on the history of electrolyte abnormalities in patients with aliskiren or hydrochlorothiazide monotherapy.

Based on experience with the use of other substances that affect the renin-angiotensin system (RAS), concomitant use of Tekturna HCT with potassium-sparing diuretics, potassium supplements, salt substitutes containing potassium, or other drugs that increase potassium levels may lead to increases in serum potassium.

Renal Artery Stenosis

No data are available on the use of Tekturna HCT in patients with unilateral or bilateral renal artery stenosis or stenosis of the artery to a solitary kidney.

Cyclosporine or Itraconazole

Aliskiren

When aliskiren was given with cyclosporine or itraconazole, the blood concentrations of aliskiren were significantly increased. Avoid concomitant use of aliskiren with cyclosporine or itraconazole [See DRUG INTERACTIONS].

Acute Myopia and Secondary Angle-Closure Glaucoma

Hydrochlorothiazide, a sulfonamide, can cause an idiosyncratic reaction, resulting in acute transient myopia and acute angle-closure glaucoma. Symptoms include acute onset of decreased visual acuity or ocular pain and typically occur within hours to weeks of drug initiation. Untreated acute angle-closure glaucoma can lead to permanent vision loss. The primary treatment is to discontinue hydrochlorothiazide as rapidly as possible. Prompt medical or surgical treatments may need to be considered if the intraocular pressure remains uncontrolled. Risk factors for developing acute angle-closure glaucoma may include a history of sulfonamide or penicillin allergy.

Patient Counseling Information

See FDA-approved patient labeling (PATIENT INFORMATION)

Healthcare professionals should instruct their patients to read the Patient Package Insert before starting Tekturna HCT and to reread each time the prescription is renewed. Patients should be instructed to inform their doctor or pharmacist if they develop any unusual symptom, or if any known symptom persists or worsens.

Pregnancy

Female patients of childbearing age should be told about the consequences of exposure to drugs that act on the renin-angiotensin system. Discuss other treatment options with female patients planning to become pregnant. These patients should be asked to report pregnancies to their physicians as soon as possible.

Symptomatic Hypotension

A patient receiving Tekturna HCT should be cautioned that lightheadedness can occur, especially during the first days of therapy, and that it should be reported to the prescribing physician. The patients should be told that if syncope occurs, Tekturna HCT should be discontinued until the physician has been consulted.

All patients should be cautioned that inadequate fluid intake, excessive perspiration, diarrhea, or vomiting can lead to an excessive fall in blood pressure, with the same consequences of lightheadedness and possible syncope.

Potassium Supplements

A patient receiving Tekturna HCT should be told not to use potassium supplements or salt substitutes containing potassium without consulting the prescribing physician.

Relationship to Meals

Patients should establish a routine pattern for taking Tekturna HCT with regard to meals. High-fat meals decrease absorption substantially.

Nonclinical Toxicology

Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility

Tekturna HCT

No carcinogenicity, mutagenicity or fertility studies have been conducted with Tekturna HCT. However, these studies have been conducted for aliskiren as well as hydrochlorothiazide alone.

Aliskiren

Carcinogenic potential was assessed in a 2-year rat study and a 6-month transgenic (rasH2) mouse study with aliskiren hemifumarate at oral doses of up to 1500 mg aliskiren/kg/day. Although there were no statistically significant increases in tumor incidence associated with exposure to aliskiren, mucosal epithelial hyperplasia (with or without erosion/ulceration) was observed in the lower gastrointestinal tract at doses of 750 or more mg/kg/day in both species, with a colonic adenoma identified in one rat and a cecal adenocarcinoma identified in another, rare tumors in the strain of rat studied. On a systemic exposure (AUC_0-24hr) basis, 1500 mg/kg/day in the rat is about 4 times and in the mouse about 1.5 times the maximum recommended human dose (300 mg aliskiren/day). Mucosal hyperplasia in the cecum or colon of rats was also observed at doses of 250 mg/kg/day (the lowest tested dose) as well as at higher doses in 4- and 13-week studies.

Aliskiren hemifumarate was devoid of genotoxic potential in the Ames reverse mutation assay with S. typhimurium and E. coli, the in vitro Chinese hamster ovary cell chromosomal aberration assay, the in vitro Chinese hamster V79 cell gene mutation test and the in vivo mouse bone marrow micronucleus assay.

Fertility of male and female rats was unaffected at doses of up to 250 mg aliskiren/kg/day (8 times the maximum recommended human dose of 300 mg Tekturna/60 kg on a mg/m² basis.

Hydrochlorothiazide

Two-year feeding studies in mice and rats conducted under the auspices of the National Toxicology Program (NTP) uncovered no evidence of a carcinogenic potential of hydrochlorothiazide in female mice (at doses of up to approximately 600 mg/kg/day) or in male and female rats (at doses of up to approximately 100 mg/kg/day). The NTP, however, found equivocal evidence for hepatocarcinogenicity in male mice.

Hydrochlorothiazide was not genotoxic in vitro in the Ames mutagenicity assay of S. typhimurium strains TA 98, TA 100, TA 1535, TA 1537, and TA 1538 and in the Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) test for chromosomal aberrations, or in vivo in assays using mouse germinal cell chromosomes, Chinese hamster bone marrow chromosomes, and the Drosophila sex-linked recessive lethal trait gene. Positive test results were obtained only in the in vitro CHO Sister Chromatid Exchange (clastogenicity) and in the Mouse Lymphoma Cell (mutagenicity) assays, using concentrations of hydrochlorothiazide from 43 to 1300 mcgm/mL, and in the Aspergillums Nidulans nondisjunction assay at an unspecified concentration.

Hydrochlorothiazide had no adverse effects on the fertility of mice and rats of either sex in studies wherein these species were exposed, via their diet, to doses of up to 100 and 4 mg/kg, respectively, prior to mating and throughout gestation. These doses of hydrochlorothiazide in mice and rats represent 19 and 1.5 times, respectively, the maximum recommended human dose on a mg/m² basis. (Calculations assume an oral dose of 25 mg/day and a 60-kg patient.)

Use In Specific Populations

Pregnancy

Pregnancy Category D [See WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS.]

Tekturna HCT contains both aliskiren (a direct renin inhibitor) and hydrochlorothiazide (a thiazide diuretic). When administered during the second or third trimester of pregnancy, drugs that act directly on the renin-angiotensin system can cause fetal and neonatal morbidity and death.

Thiazides can cross the placenta, and use of thiazides during pregnancy is associated with a risk of fetal or neonatal jaundice, thrombocytopenia, and possibly other adverse reactions that have occurred in adults. Tekturna HCT can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. If this drug is used during pregnancy, or if the patient becomes pregnant while taking this drug, apprise the patient of the potential hazard to the fetus.

In several dozen published cases, ACE inhibitor use during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy was associated with fetal and neonatal injury, including hypotension, neonatal skull hypoplasia, anuria, reversible or irreversible renal failure, and death. Oligohydramnios was also reported, presumably from decreased fetal renal function. In this setting, oligohydramnios was associated with fetal limb contractures, craniofacial deformation, and hypoplastic lung development. Prematurity, intrauterine growth retardation, and patent ductus arteriosus were also reported, although it is not clear whether these occurrences were due to exposure to the drug. In addition, first trimester use of ACE inhibitors, a specific class of drugs acting on the renin-angiotensin system, has been associated with a potential risk of birth defects in retrospective data.

When pregnancy occurs in a patient using Tekturna HCT, the physician should discontinue Tekturna HCT treatment as soon as possible. The physician should inform the patient about potential risks to the fetus based on the time of gestational exposure to Tekturna HCT (first trimester only or later). If exposure occurs beyond the first trimester, an ultrasound examination should be done.

In rare cases when another antihypertensive agent cannot be used to treat the pregnant patient, serial ultrasound examinations should be performed to assess the intraamniotic environment. Routine fetal testing with non-stress tests, biophysical profiles, and/or contraction stress tests may be appropriate based on gestational age and standards of care in the community. If oligohydramnios occurs in these situations, individualized decisions about continuing or discontinuing Tekturna HCT treatment and about pregnancy management should be made by the patient, her physician, and experts in the management of high risk pregnancy. Patients and physicians should be aware that oligohydramnios may not appear until after the fetus has sustained irreversible injury. Infants with histories of in utero exposure to Tekturna HCT should be closely observed for hypotension, oliguria, and hyperkalemia. If oliguria occurs, these infants may require blood pressure and renal perfusion support. Exchange transfusion or dialysis may be required to reverse hypotension and/or support decreased renal function.

No reproductive toxicity studies have been conducted with the combination of aliskiren and hydrochlorothiazide. However, these studies have been conducted for aliskiren as well as hydrochlorothiazide alone.

Reproductive toxicity studies of aliskiren hemifumarate did not reveal any evidence of teratogenicity at oral doses up to 600 mg aliskiren/kg/day (20 times the maximum recommended human dose [MRHD] of 300 mg/day on a mg/m² basis) in pregnant rats or up to 100 mg aliskiren/kg/day (seven times the MRHD on a mg/m² basis) in pregnant rabbits. Fetal birth weight was adversely affected in rabbits at 50 mg/kg/day (3.2 times the MRHD on a mg/m² basis). Aliskiren was present in placenta, amniotic fluid and fetuses of pregnant rabbits.

When pregnant mice and rats were given hydrochlorothiazide at doses up to 3000 and 1000 mg/kg/day, respectively (about 600 and 400 times the MRHD) during their respective periods of major organogenesis, there was no evidence of fetal harm.

Nursing Mothers

It is not known whether aliskiren is excreted in human milk, but aliskiren was secreted in the milk of lactating rats. Thiazides appear in human milk. Because of the potential for adverse effects on the nursing infant, a decision should be made whether to discontinue nursing or discontinue the drug, taking into account the importance of the drug to the mother.

Pediatric Use

Safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients have not been established.

Geriatric Use

In the short-term controlled clinical trials of Tekturna HCT, 325 (19.6%) patients treated with Tekturna HCT were ≥ 65 years and 53 (3.2%) were ≥ 75 years.

No overall differences in safety or effectiveness were observed between these subjects and younger subjects, and other reported clinical experience has not identified differences in responses between the elderly and younger patients, but greater sensitivity of some older individuals cannot be ruled out.

Last reviewed on RxList: 11/1/2011
This monograph has been modified to include the generic and brand name in many instances.