vikar should be used with caution in patients with mild to moderate hepatic impairment (see sections 4.4, 5.2).
In patients with moderate hepatic impairment, an initial dose of 10 mg olmesartan medoxomil once daily is recommended and the maximum dose should not exceed 20 mg once daily. Close monitoring of blood pressure and renal function is advised in hepatically-impaired patients who are already receiving diuretics and/or other antihypertensive agents. There is no experience of olmesartan medoxomil in patients with severe hepatic impairment.
As with all calcium antagonists, amlodipine's half-life is prolonged in patients with impaired liver function and dosage recommendations have not been established. Sevikar should therefore be administered with caution in these patients. The pharmacokinetics of amlodipine have not been studied in severe hepatic impairment. Amlodipine should be initiated at the lowest dose and titrated slowly in patients with impaired liver function. Use of Sevikar in patients with severe hepatic impairment is contraindicated (see section 4.3).
Paediatric population
The safety and efficacy of Sevikar in children and adolescents below 18 years has not been established. No data are available.
Method of administration:
The tablet should be swallowed with a sufficient amount of fluid (e.g. one glass of water). The tablet should not be chewed and should be taken at the same time each day.
4.3 Contraindications
Hypersensitivity to the active substances, to dihydropyridine derivatives or to any of the excipients listed in section 6.1.
Second and third trimesters of pregnancy (see sections 4.4 and 4.6).
Severe hepatic insufficiency and biliary obstruction (see section 5.2).
The concomitant use of Sevikar with aliskiren-containing products is contraindicated in patients with diabetes mellitus or renal impairment (GFR < 60 mL/min/1.73 m2) (see sections 4.5 and 5.1).
Due to the component amlodipine Sevikar is also contraindicated in patients with:
- severe hypotension.
- shock (including cardiogenic shock).
- obstruction of the outflow tract of the left ventricle (e.g. high grade aortic stenosis).
- haemodynamically unstable heart failure after acute myocardial infarction
4.4 Special warnings and precautions for use
Patients with hypovolaemia or sodium depletion:
Symptomatic hypotension may occur in patients who are volume and/or sodium depleted by vigorous diuretic therapy, dietary salt restriction, diarrhoea or vomiting, especially after the first dose. Correction of this condition prior to administration of Sevikar or close medical supervision at the start of the treatment is recommended.
Other conditions with stimulation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system:
In patients whose vascular tone and renal function depend predominantly on the activity of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (e.g. patients with severe congestive heart failure or underlying renal disease, including renal artery stenosis), treatment with other medicinal products that affect this system, such as angiotensin II receptor antagonists, has been associated with acute hypotension, azotaemia, oliguria or, rarely, acute renal failure.
Renovascular hypertension:
There is an increased risk of severe hypotension and renal insufficiency when patients with bilateral renal artery stenosis or stenosis of the artery to a single functioning kidney are treated with medicinal products that affect th |
