Evidence in Guidelines for Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease

In this chapter, we focus on evidences in current guidelines for treatment of coronary artery disease (CAD). In Part 1, diet and lifestyle management is discussed, which plays an important role in CAD risk control, including forming healthy dietary pattern, maintaining proper body weight, physical exercise, smoking cessation, and so on. Part 2 elaborated on revascularization strategies and medical treatments in patients presenting with acute coronary syndrome (ACS), including specific AHA and ESC guidelines on ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and non-ST elevation ACS (NSTE-ACS). Part 3 discussed chronic stable coronary artery disease (SCAD), the treatment objective of which is a combination of both symptomatic and prognostic improvement. Yet many of the recommendations for SCAD are expert-based rather than evidence-based. Initial medical treatment is safe and beneficial for most patients. While cumulating studies have focused on optimizing pharmacological therapy (referring to nitrates, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, antiplatelet agents, ACEI/ARB, statins, etc.), education, habitual modification, and social support matters a lot for reducing cardiac morbidity and mortality. Patients with moderate-to-severe symptoms and complex lesions should be considered for revascularization. But practical management of revascularization shall take individual characteristics, preference, and compliance into consideration as well.