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Previous Volume 342:101-114 January 13, 2000 Number 2 Next

	Since this article has no abstract, we have provided an extract of the first 100 words of the full text and any section headings.

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Unstable angina accounts for more than 1 million hospital admissions annually¹; 6 to 8 percent of patients with this condition have nonfatal myocardial infarction or die within the first year after diagnosis.^2,3 Various definitions of unstable angina have been proposed, but in 1989, Braunwald devised a classification system to ensure uniformity of categorization, as well as diagnostic and prognostic information.⁴ This system is used to classify angina according to the severity of the clinical manifestation, defined as acute angina while at rest (within the 48 hours before presentation), subacute angina while at rest (within the previous month but not . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Pathogenesis

Initiation of the Cascade of Plaque Fissure and Rupture

Acute Thrombosis and Platelet Aggregation

Coronary Vasospasm

Erosion of Coronary Plaque without Rupture

Medical Therapy

Antiplatelet Therapy

            Aspirin

            Ticlopidine

            Clopidogrel

            Platelet Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa Receptor Antagonists

Antithrombin Therapy

            Unfractionated Heparin

            Low-Molecular-Weight Heparins

            Direct Antithrombins

            Warfarin

Thrombolytic Therapy

Conventional Antianginal Therapy

            Beta-Blockers

            Nitrates

            Calcium-Channel Blockers

Coronary Revascularization

Risk Stratification and Selection of Management Strategies

Laboratory Markers

Electrocardiographic Findings

Exercise Stress Testing and Nuclear Imaging

Ambulatory Electrocardiographic (Holter) Monitoring

Early Identification of the Optimal Strategy

Summary

Source Information

From the Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Address reprint requests to Dr. Stone at the Cardiovascular Division, Brigham and Women's Hospital, 75 Francis St., Boston, MA 02115, or at pstone@rics.bwh.harvard.edu.

References

Related Letters:

Unstable Angina Pectoris
Colwell N. S., Buckley B. M., Murphy M. B., Shavelle D. M., Wuthrich D. A., Srivathsan K., Showalter J. C., Dieter R. S., Yeghiazarians Y., Stone P. H.
Extract | Full Text  
N Engl J Med 2000; 342:1676-1678, Jun 1, 2000. Correspondence

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