MONA is a mnemonic standing for Morphine, Oxygen, Nitrates, and Aspirin, historically used to summarise the immediate initial management of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), including unstable angina, NSTEMI, and STEMI. Aspirin (300mg, chewed) is the most evidence-based component and remains standard first-line treatment for all acute coronary syndromes: it inhibits platelet aggregation and reduces thrombus … Read more
Inotropes are drugs that alter the strength (force) of the heart’s contractions. Positive inotropes increase contractility, boosting cardiac output when the heart is failing to pump effectively. Negative inotropes reduce contractility and are used therapeutically in conditions where a less forceful contraction is beneficial, most notably beta-blockers and some calcium channel blockers used in heart … Read more
Immunosuppressants are medicines that reduce the activity of the body’s immune system. They are used primarily in transplantation medicine to prevent the immune system from attacking and rejecting a donor organ such as a transplanted heart, and they are also used to treat certain autoimmune and inflammatory conditions in which the immune system mistakenly damages … Read more