Angina (chronic stable).

BACKGROUND

Stable angina is usually caused by coronary atherosclerosis, and affects up to 16% of men and 10% of women aged 65-74 years in the UK. Risk factors include hypertension, elevated serum cholesterol levels, smoking, physical inactivity, and overweight. People with angina are at increased risk of other cardiovascular events and mortality compared with people without angina. Among people not thought to need coronary artery revascularisation, annual mortality is 1-2% and the annual non-fatal myocardial infarction (MI) rate is 2-3%.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic review and aimed to answer the following clinical question: What are effects of long-term drug treatment for stable angina? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to June 2007 (BMJ Clinical Evidence reviews are updated periodically, please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this review). We included harms alerts from relevant organisations such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).

RESULTS

We found nine systematic reviews, RCTs, or observational studies that met our inclusion criteria. We performed a GRADE evaluation of the quality of evidence for interventions.

CONCLUSIONS

In this systematic review we present information relating to the long-term effectiveness and safety of the following interventions: beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, long-acting nitrates, potassium channel openers, combinations of these anti-anginal drug treatments and the use of these anti-anginal drug treatment as an adjunct to existing therapies.