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Many studies have documented the benefit of nicotine patches as an aid to smoking cessation. However, several anecdotal reports have raised concerns about the safety of nicotine patches in cardiac patients. Investigators from 10 Veterans Affairs medical centers sought to determine the safety of nicotine patches in smokers with cardiovascular disease by enrolling 584 outpatients in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
The subjects (mean age 60 years) were predominantly male and had smoked an average of 28 cigarettes per day for about 44 years. Patients randomized to transdermal nicotine received a 21-mg patch for six weeks, a 14-mg patch for two weeks and a 7-mg patch for two weeks. The patch was discontinued at week six if t…