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Several cardiovascular disorders, most notably hypertension, angina and heart failure, are commonly treated with vasodilators. These drugs improve the functioning of the cardiovascular system without treating the cause of the disease, which in most cases is unknown. The clinically used drugs belong to a large, heterogeneous group of agents that share the ability to dilate blood vessels in-vivo. Their beneficial effects result principally from the dilation of arterial resistance vessels, leading to reduced peripheral resistance, or dilation of the venous capacitance vessels, reducing venous return to the heart. There are many different types of vasodilator, which display varying degrees of selectivity for different vascular beds and have distinct clinical profiles. This is reflected in the varied therapeutic applications of the different vasodilator types. Thus, hypertension may be treated with an arteriole dilator, such as the calcium …