Zyban as an Effective Smoking Cessation Aid for Patients Following an Acute Coronary Syndrome: The ZESCA Trial
Status:
Completed
Trial end date:
2010-06-01
Target enrollment:
Participant gender:
Summary
Patients who continue to smoke after a heart attack have a 35% increased risk of a recurrent
event or death compared with those who quit. Many patients attempt to stop smoking after a
heart attack, but relapse rates approach 66%. A variety of smoking cessation aids have been
shown to be effective for the general population. However, bupropion is the only non-nicotine
replacement therapy shown to improve abstinence rates in healthy young smokers. Furthermore,
nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) are contraindicated in the immediate period following a
heart attack because of the undesirable effects of nicotine. Although bupropion has been
successfully used to reduce smoking rates in healthy young populations, its efficacy and
safety in the setting of patients recovering from an ACS is unknown. These patients, if they
continue to smoke, are at exceptionally high risk for recurrent cardiac events. If bupropion
is effective in this population, it will have a major impact on secondary prevention of
recurrent clinical events in patients who suffer a heart attack.
Phase:
Phase 3
Details
Lead Sponsor:
Mark Eisenberg
Collaborators:
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada