Medical therapy of unstable angina and non-Q-wave myocardial infarction.

Management of acute coronary syndromes has been the focus of increased interest in recent years. This has come about with the recognition that the majority of patients who present to the hospital with chest pain have unstable angina or non-Q-wave myocardial infarction (MI). Further, sensitive biochemical markers of myocardial necrosis, such as troponin and creatine kinase, have improved early diagnosis. Markers of inflammation such as C-reactive protein (CRP), although not in wide clinical practice, may provide an early and important marker of prognosis. The current approach to management of acute coronary syndromes is careful risk stratification so as to select appropriate medical therapies and to guide the clinician to appropriate interventions such as angiography or percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Established therapies such as aspirin, heparin, intravenous nitrates, and, in selected patients, beta blockers or calcium antagonists, are being used concomitantly with, or are being supplanted by, newer therapies such as low-molecular-weight heparins and glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors. The role of hydroxymethyl glutaryl coenzyme A reductase inhibitors (statins) in patients with acute coronary syndromes is being investigated and shows promise.