Unless there is evidence of a heart attack , patients are treated with observation, monitoring and an intensive medical regimen, including blood thinners, artery dilator drugs to lower the heart rate and blood pressure, and platelet inhibitors. As a result, continuous ECG monitoring has been proposed as a better way to identify patients at increased risk for heart problems. There are, however, several indicators of heart tissue damage. These enzyme markers are very sensitive and can detect even minor heart tissue damage. The twin goals of therapy are to improve blood flow to the heart tissue and to stabilize the plaque so that it doesn't continue to promote clot build-up.
Many drugs are now available.
4 Aspirin is useful because it slows down platelet clumping and deposition on the plaque inside the artery 25 and greatly decreases the incidence of heart attack and death. It is given IV to high-risk patients and to those with recurrent chest pain. Patients can be changed to an oral or topical form, once chest pain episodes subside and stabilization is achieved. For patients in whom beta-blockers are not a good idea, calcium antagonists have helped prevent the UA to heart attack progression. 33 Taken together with heparin, they greatly reduce the occurrence of heart attacks among UA patients.