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Treatment options for coronary artery disease (CAD)

Coronary artery disease (CAD) can be treated in several ways, depending on how severe the disease is, to what extent it is limiting the patient’s lifestyle and on the patient’s overall health.

In most cases, the symptoms of CAD can be brought under control with medication and lifestyle changes, such as stopping smoking and getting more exercise. Although medication cannot eliminate the narrowing of arteries, it can reduce angina, help improve the efficiency of the heart and reduce risk factors such as hypertension (high blood pressure). 

Where a narrowing in a coronary artery is so tight that it could damage or has damaged the patient’s heart, it is usually possible to open it up with the use of a balloon catheter or a stent. This procedure is called angioplasty, and it is usually performed if medication alone cannot relieve the patient’s symptoms.

In some cases, there are many parts of a patient’s coronary arteries that are narrow and cannot be opened with balloon catheters. In these cases, the patient requires surgery to ensure adequate blood flow to the heart.

For patients with arteriosclerosis of the coronary arteries, the physician will suggest a procedure to open, or dilate, the narrowed portion of the artery with a balloon catheter or stent.