Vasodilatadores: re-visión de un viejo armamento

Agents with vasodilatory properties are a heterogeneous group of drugs that have been part of the arsenal of the cardiologist for decades, and although their use is broad, it is not optimal. The term has always been ambiguous and prone to confusion with respect to the drugs that should be included. This paper makes a concise review of the current state of these drugs including the new agents developed, emphasizing their precise therapeutic uses demonstrated by evidence, its limitations and contraindications from a practical perspective for the clinical cardiologist. A structured, non-systematic review of the literature was performed by searching the PubMed database with the MeSH term: vasodilator agent. Articles in Spanish and English were included. A narrative review was written, oriented to a clinical perspective, which describes the current role of vasodilators in contemporary cardiovascular medicine. Vasodilators have an active and determining role in modern cardiology and are an essential tool in various clinical scenarios.