Current Therapeutics for Cardiac Disease

Abstract

Drugs for the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular disease have been one of the success stories of the last half century. Consequently there are now a large number of drug classes, many with several members all in use in clinical practice. This chapter provides a scaffolding on which pathologists can build a greater understanding of the mechanisms of action, clinical uses, and toxicity of these drugs. In addition, there is a brief consideration of the adverse effects on the cardiovascular system of drugs used for the treatment of diseases in other organ systems. Such understanding will help pathologists in their interpretation of clinical cases and to provide more insightful clinical advice based on knowledge of drug action.