[Mechanism of vascular calcification]

Vascular calcification, especially in coronary artery not only serves as a surrogate marker for atherosclerosis, but also predicts a higher risk of myocardial infarction and death. Its pathogenesis involves an active mineralization process by chondrogenic and osteogenic cells as well as a passive precipitation of minerals. Since atherosclerosis is a chronic vascular inflammation, plaque calcification is conceptualized as a chondrogenic and/or osteogenic process associated with chronic vascular inflammation.