Course Syllabus
Aims
This course will provide the basic knowledge about the effects of various drugs on heart and circulation and will explain the mechanisms of action of the main classes of cardiovascular drugs. The course will allow students understand how to tailor drug prescription according to patient disease and characteristics. After completion of this course, the students will learn basic knowledge on the treatment of major cardiovascular and respiratory conditions (hypertension, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, asthma etc).
Contents
- Main classes of cardiovascular and respiratory drugs with their mechanisms of action, drug interactions and precautions
Detailed program
· General overview of pharmacologic therapy for cardiovascular diseases
· Anti-ischemic and antianginal therapies
· Anti-hypertensive therapies (Beta-blocking agents, Calcium channel blockers, Inhibitors of Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System, Diuretics)
· Anti-arrhythmic drugs
· Antithrombotic agents (acute and chronic anticoagulation, fibrinolytics) - brief overview, as already discussed in the Onco-Hematological diseases
· Antiplatelet agents - brief overview, as already discussed in the Onco-Hematological diseases
· Treatment of acute and chronic heart failure
- Natural products and cardiovascular medicine
· Lipid-modifying therapies (statins, fibrates, ezetimibe) - brief overview, as already discussed in the Onco-Hematological diseases
· Contributory risk and management of comorbidities in chronic heart failure
· Non-cardiac drugs affecting the heart
· Treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Prerequisites
- Fundamental knowledge on cell biology
- English language
Teaching form
- During COVID-19 emergency period, the lectures (including theoretical concepts and clinical examples) will be held remotely by asynchronous online videoconference (recorded video lectures available on demand)
- All course activities will be held in English language
Textbook and teaching resource
- Kaski JC, Kjeldsen KP. The ESC Handbook on Cardiovascular Pharmacotherapy (2 edn). Oxford University Press 2019
- Brunton L, Hilal-Dandan R, Knollmann BC. Goodman and Gilman's the Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics (13th Edition) McGraw Hill 2018
- Opie LH, Gersh B. Drugs for the Heart - 8 edition. Saunders 2012
Semester
- First semester
Assessment method
- Written exam in English, comprising 30 multiple-choice questions with only one correct answer
(among 5) aimed at evaluating global comprehension of course program. Each correct
answer is scored 1.
Office hours
By
email appointment at: antonio.torsello@unimib.it