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If you or a family member is diagnosed with Coronary Artery Disease, your physician will review treatment options with you and discuss an appropriate therapy. A treatment recommendation will depend on the progression or severity of the disease as well as your medical history.

Currently, there is a range of treatment options available for CAD.

First-line treatment options for CAD range from recommended lifestyle changes such as moderate exercise and a low fat diet to prescribing medication to control the symptoms of disease. Some medicines are intended to relieve angina pain while others manage high blood pressure, treat irregular heartbeats, and prevent heart attacks. However, these medications help to control symptoms only. There are currently no drugs that can clear an artery. A physician must clear plaque blockage and reopen arteries using interventional procedures.

Routine procedures such as angioplasty, stenting, and bypass surgery are common treatments for Coronary Artery Disease.

• Angioplasty is a minimally invasive intervention where a physician enters the artery with a catheter and reopens blood flow with a small inflatable balloon that acts as a plaque-clearing device.
• Stenting is another, usually simultaneous procedure with balloon angioplasty, in which a stent is placed in the narrowed part of the coronary artery. A stent is a tiny, expandable, mesh-like tube that acts as a scaffold inside the artery and helps keep the artery open after balloon angioplasty.
• Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG) is a routine surgical procedure where healthy vessels are removed from the chest and leg to act as grafts that carry blood flow around the blocked point of the artery. The grafts bypass the blockage and provide the heart sufficient oxygen.

Your physician will explain the most appropriate therapeutic plan for your condition based on your symptoms, test results, extent of disease, and medical history.

Last update: 31.07.2005