Acute coronary syndromes - pharmacological treatment

The term acute coronary syndrome (ACS) describes the spectrum of disease from acute myocardial infarction (MI) to unstable angina, as described in the first article of this feature (p285).The primary cause of these diseases is essentially the same — thrombosis of a coronary artery leading to ischaemia and possibly infarction of the myocardium.The degree of ischaemia or infarct size is related to the degree and location of the thrombosis. Since the 1960s, when standard treatment was bed rest and defibrillation (when required), the death rate from acute MI has fallen. This steady decline in mortality has been due to a number of factors: