Forty-five patients with supine diastolic blood pressures (DBPs) above 95 mm Hg at the end of a four-week placebo run-in period were randomized to receive either 1.25 mg, 2.5 mg, or 5 mg isradipine twice daily as monotherapy for 12 weeks. Blood pressures (BP) were measured every 14 days, always by the same observer and using standard techniques. The Montevideo Mathematical Model was used to determine the time course of the response to treatment in each dosage group. Of the 33 patients who completed the study, four of the 12 patients receiving 1.25 mg isradipine twice daily had their BP controlled by weeks 10 or 12 (supine DBP less than or equal to 90 mm Hg), seven of 11 by 2.5 mg twice daily, and five of 10 by 5 mg twice daily. Mean DBPs for each dosage group were significantly reduced by week 12 (P less than .015 in all groups). The Montevideo Model allows estimation of the time after onset of treatment by which BP is reduced by a given amount. This model indicated that, with 2.5 mg isradipine twice daily, a fall in mean arterial pressure of 10 mm Hg is to be expected within three weeks of initiating drug administration.