Contemporary Use of Oral Antithrombotic Agents: Focus on Dual and Triple Therapeutic Approaches.

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) represents a long-standing health care burden in most industrialized countries. Management of ASCVD is multifaceted, and utilization of antithrombotic agents is a key component of care to reduce vascular events. Minimizing thrombotic risk can be accomplished via antiplatelet or anticoagulant drugs; however, combination therapy is warranted for some indications. Although reducing thrombotic complications is important, it is equally vital to consider the safety of combination regimens. Thus clinicians must effectively balance both individualized thrombotic and bleeding risks when using this strategy. Scenarios occur in practice when determining the role for combination therapy is not clear, especially for patients with ASCVD who require both dual antiplatelet therapy plus anticoagulation. The aim of this review is to discuss the role of dual or triple antithrombotic therapies across the spectrum of thrombotic disease states. In addition to critiquing relevant research studies and evaluating key recommendations from nationally published guidelines and consensus statements involving the use of these agents, we offer practical considerations that can be utilized when managing patients with ASCVD.

The role of academic pharmacy in tobacco cessation and control.

Despite decades of public health initiatives, tobacco use remains the leading known preventable cause of death in the United States. Clinicians have a proven, positive effect on patients' ability to quit, and pharmacists are strategically positioned to assist patients with quitting. The American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy recognizes health promotion and disease prevention as a key educational outcome; as such, tobacco cessation education should be a required component of pharmacy curricula to ensure that all pharmacy graduates possess the requisite evidence-based knowledge and skills to intervene with patients who use tobacco. Faculty members teaching tobacco cessation-related content must be knowledgeable and proficient in providing comprehensive cessation counseling, and all preceptors and practicing pharmacists providing direct patient care should screen for tobacco use and provide at least minimal counseling as a routine component of care. Pharmacy organizations should establish policies and resolutions addressing the profession's role in tobacco cessation and control, and the profession should work together to eliminate tobacco sales in all practice settings where pharmacy services are rendered.

Drug-induced heart failure.

PURPOSE: The published evidence on the role of various drugs and medication classes in causing or exacerbating heart failure (HF) is reviewed, with discussion of precautions and management strategies for use in clinical practice. SUMMARY: A literature search was conducted to identify reports of new-onset HF and exacerbations of HF associated with medication use published from 1960 to January 2011. A large body of evidence from controlled clinical trials has led to an improved understanding of well-established causes of drug-induced HF symptoms (e.g., thiazolidinediones, certain older chemotherapy agents) while implicating a wide range of other commonly used drugs and drug classes (e.g., tyrosine kinase inhibitors, biological response modifiers) as having causal or contributory roles. Among the various medications cited in cases of drug-induced HF, some have been linked to significantly increased risks of stroke, myocardial infarction, and death, particularly in patients with existing cardiovascular (CV) disorders or CV risk factors. In recent years, postmarketing and surveillance data have linked a number of newer medications--including the antiarrhythmic dronedarone, the antifungal itraconazole, and the anti-cancer drugs trastuzumab, lapatinib, and bevacizumab--to serious cardiac effects not reported during clinical trials. CONCLUSION: A variety of agents have been associated with drug-induced HF. Patients receiving agents that have been implicated in cases of new-onset HF or exacerbations of HF should be monitored for signs and symptoms of CV effects.