Current Management of Highly Calcified Coronary Lesions: An Overview of the Current Status

The amount of coronary calcium strongly correlates with the degree of atherosclerosis and, therefore, with the rate of future cardiac events. Calcified coronary lesions still represent a challenge for interventional cardiologists, bringing not only a higher risk of immediate complications during percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI), but also a higher risk of late stent failure due to under-expansion and/or malapposition, and therefore, have a relevant prognostic impact. Accurate identification of the calcified plaques together with the analysis of their distribution pattern within the vessel wall by intracoronary imaging is important to improve the successful treatment of these lesions. The aim of this review is to guide readers through the assessment of the calcified plaque distribution using intracoronary imaging in order to select the best devices and strategies for plaque debulking and lesion preparation.