Pharmacotherapy for cardiac diseases

Abstract

Clinical trial design inclusion criteria typically require that patients be on optimal medical therapy prior to their enrollment or randomization, i.e., they are currently being managed by medical regimens proven to be safe and effective and considered standard in clinical practice for the particular disease state being studied. Only if this is the case can any trial's clinical or statistical significance be determined between study groups. This chapter outlines the current optimal medical management/therapy for patients eliciting: (1) hypertension, (2) acute coronary syndromes and myocardial infarction, (3) heart failure, and/or (4) arrhythmias.