What should be done about coronary artery calcification?
Treatment of coronary artery calcification includes lifestyle modifications—such as smoking cessation, alcohol restriction, a low-fat and low-sodium diet, regular physical exercise, and weight control.
Pharmacologic therapy encompasses anti-thrombotic agents, drugs that reduce myocardial oxygen demand, anti-anginal medications, and lipid-lowering agents that stabilize atherosclerotic plaques.
Additionally, revascularization therapies are available, including percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), balloon angioplasty, stent implantation, and surgical coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Pharmacotherapy forms the foundation of all treatment strategies; even after PCI or surgical revascularization, long-term standard medical therapy must be continued. For an individual patient, optimal disease control may be achievable with pharmacotherapy alone during one stage of the disease, whereas in another stage, drug therapy alone may prove insufficient, necessitating combined management with surgical intervention.