Evaluation of coronary stenosis versus plaque burden for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk assessment and management

Purpose of review To provide a summary of recent literature on the relative impact of luminal stenosis versus atherosclerotic plaque burden in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk stratification and management. Recent findings Recent results from both randomized controlled clinical trials as well as observational cohort studies have demonstrated that ASCVD risk is mediated mainly by the extent of atherosclerotic disease burden rather than by the presence of coronary stenosis or inducible ischemia. Although patients with obstructive CAD are generally at higher risk for ASCVD events than patients with nonobstructive CAD, this is driven by a higher plaque burden in those with obstructive CAD. Accordingly, the ASCVD risk for a given plaque burden is similar in patients with and without obstructive CAD. Accompanying these observations are randomized controlled trial data, which show that optimization of medical therapy instead of early revascularization is most important for improving prognosis in patients with stable obstructive CAD. Emerging evidence shows that atherosclerotic plaque burden, and not stenosis per se, is the main driver of ASCVD risk in patients with CAD. This information challenges the current paradigm of selecting patients for intensive secondary prevention measures based primarily on the presence of obstructive CAD.

Automated summary

Recent studies have shown that atherosclerotic plaque burden, rather than luminal stenosis, is the main driver of ASCVD risk in patients with coronary artery disease. While patients with obstructive CAD are generally at higher risk for ASCVD events, this is due to their higher plaque burden rather than the presence of stenosis. Studies also suggest that optimizing medical therapy instead of early revascularization is crucial for improving prognosis in these patients.