[Bone and calcium update; diagnosis and therapy of bone metabolism disease update. Calcification of atherosclerotic plaques: mechanism and clinical significance].

Vascular calcification is an important problem in the patients with diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD) , and contributes to the increased risk of cardiovascular events by a variety of mechanisms, including an increase in arterial stiffness by medial calcification or an increase in plaque vulnerability by a specific type of atherosclerotic calcification. Coronary calcification is a marker of atherosclerosis and evaluation of coronary artery calcium (CAC) score by cardiac MDCT has been recognized as the useful strategies to initiate or intensify appropriate treatment to slow the progression of atherosclerosis. Besides the risk of coronary heart disease, CAC has been demonstrated to be associated with the risk of complication during PCI, including arterial perforation and dissection, stent malapposition, and resultant late stent thrombosis. Increasing evidence demonstrates that both types of vascular calcification are active and tightly regulated by a process similar to bone formation.