The present single-blind, randomised, cross-over, placebo-controlled study was set up to compare the first-dose effects upon blood pressure (BP) and cerebral blood flow (CBF, measured by Xenon inhalation) of a single oral dose of atenolol 50 mg and enalapril 5 mg in ten hypertensive patients receiving a thiazide diuretic. It was found that a) the timing and degree of fall in BP after the first dose of atenolol and enalapril on a diuretic background were similar and generally not associated with symptoms or a fall in CBF, and b) dizziness, which is sometimes associated with the first-dose effect of ACE inhibitors in hypertensives on diuretics, can occasionally occur accompanied by a substantial fall (43%) in CBF in the absence of marked falls in systolic blood pressure. It is suggested that the latter event may be linked to a disturbance of cerebral autoregulation in part dependent on localised renin-angiotensin systems.