Effect of conventional medical treatment on the course of unstable angina

In spite of the frequency of unstable angina, the number of clinical trials which permit to evaluate the value of conventional medical treatments, remains limited, especially because of the difficulties in finding a "specific tracer" of the efficacy of the standard drugs used. The common form of unstable angina is different from the spastic form, in that inducement tests permit, in Prinzmetal angina, better codified selection and monitoring of the patients. The literature is reviewed for each therapeutic family (calcium inhibitors, amiodarone, nitro-compounds, molsidomine, etc.). On a short term basis, the conventional treatment permits, most of the time to perform a coronary angiography under good conditions. On a long term basis, medical treatment and surgical procedure give similar results, except for patients with three-vessels disease in whom surgical revascularization provides a more comfortable life.