Prevention of myocardial reinfarction. Recommendations based on results of drug trials.

Therapy after acute myocardial infarction offers the prospect of increased survival in carefully selected patients. Current recommendations favor the use of beta blockers and antiplatelet agents, but some positive effects have been seen with use of anticoagulants, angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, and calcium channel blockers. Further studies are needed to evaluate these drug classes in reinfarction prophylaxis and to define differences among the agents in each class.