The primary objective was to establish the safety of clevidipine in the treatment of postoperative hypertension, as assessed by comparing the incidences of death, stroke, MI and renal dysfunction in the clevidipine and nicardipine treatment groups from the initiation of study drug infusion through postoperative Day 30. Secondary objectives were to evaluate the efficacy of study drug, assessed by the blood pressure (BP) lowering effect, and additional safety variables.