Calcific coronary lesions: management, challenges, and a comprehensive review.

As the prevalence of coronary artery disease continues to increase worldwide, understanding the nuances of complex calcific coronary lesions becomes paramount. Coronary artery calcium (CAC) is a well-established, widely available, and highly specific marker of subclinical and advanced atherosclerosis. It remains a vital adjudicator of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) and facilitates the up- or down-stratifying of asymptomatic, intermediate risk patients. Notably, the high prevalence of CAC in coronary heart disease (CHD) patients makes the percutaneous treatment of heavily calcified coronary lesions particularly challenging. These cases have a higher risk of immediate complications, late failures due to stent underexpansion or malapposition, and poor clinical outcomes. In this setting, understanding lesion pathophysiology and characterizing calcium deposition with multimodal imaging are crucial steps to improve the successful treatment of these lesions. Therefore, this review explores CAC in the context of complicated and severely calcified lesions. We seek to ameliorate clinical uncertainties and synthesize growing amounts of research to help encourage a homogenous approach to complex calcific coronary lesions. To that end, this comprehensive review paper will first cover epidemiology, pathophysiology, and the types of calcific lesions. Next, we will review acute and long-term complications, as well as lesion preparation and intervention. Last, this review will explore the role of imaging and the contemporary management of severely calcified lesions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]