REducing Blood Pressure Variability in Essential Hypertension With RAmipril vErsus Nifedipine GITS Trial

Inclusion Criteria: * Male and female subjects * Age 35-75 years * Clinic systolic BP ≥140 mmHg and/or diastolic BP ≥ 90 mmHg (under no antihypertensive treatment) * Daytime BP on ambulatory BP monitoring (ABPM) ≥135 mmHg systolic and/or ≥85 mmHg diastolic (under no antihypertensive treatment) * Home SBP standard deviation (SD) \>7 mmHg and/or daytime ambulatory SBP SD \>12 mmHg * Patients may be included if untreated or, if treated with one antihypertensive drug or two drugs in low doses, after 2 weeks' washout period * Written informed consent to participate in the study Exclusion Criteria: * Subjects treated with ≥ 2 antihypertensive drugs (except those on two drugs in low doses) * Treated subjects with on-treatment clinic BP ≥160 mmHg systolic and/or 100 mmHg diastolic * Treated antihypertensive subjects in whom withdrawal of treatment is deemed unethical by the investigator (e.g. because of the existence of compelling indications other than hypertension for continuous use of previously used antihypertensive agent) * Contraindications to study treatments as detailed in the relative Summaries of Medical Product Characteristics for ramipril (hypersensitivity to ramipril or any of the excipients or any other ACE inhibitor, history of angioneurotic oedema, extracorporeal treatments leading to contact of blood with negatively charged surfaces, significant bilateral renal artery stenosis or renal artery stenosis in a single functioning kidney, second and third trimesters of pregnancy, lactation, haemodynamically relevant renal artery stenosis, hypotensive or haemodynamically unstable patients) or nifedipine GITS (known hypersensitivity to nifedipine or to any of the excipients, pregnancy before week 20 and during breastfeeding, cardiovascular shock, concomitant treatment with rifampicin, patients with a Kock pouch) * Cardiovascular diseases other than hypertension (coronary heart disease, heart failure or left ventricular systolic dysfunction of any degree, atrial fibrillation or frequent arrhythmias, valvular or congenital heart disease, cardiomyopathies, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral artery disease, aortic aneurysm) * Chronic kidney disease * Suspected or confirmed secondary hypertension * Diabetes mellitus * Subjects with conditions other than those mentioned above, where compelling indications for the use of any specific class of antihypertensive medication exist, according to current (e.g. European Society of Cardiology) guidelines * Other conditions deemed relevant by the investigator (including respiratory disorders, liver disease, renal disease, thyroid disorders) * BMI ≥35 kg/m2 * Known severe obstructive sleep apnea (apnea-hypopnea index \> 30 or use of CPAP) * Premenopausal women not using effective contraceptive methods * Elevated probability of noncompliance with the study procedures