5. Treatment of Coronary Artery Disease (CAD)

The treatment of a particular patient’s coronary artery disease (CAD) will depend on the severity of the symptoms and the patient’s pathological condition. In addition to pain, patients may suffer from other symptoms, such as severe fatigue, dyspnea, abdominal pain, nausea and sweating. And in order to understand cardiac pain, one requires knowledge of the interplay between ischemic, metabolic and neurological mechanisms behind CAD. This chapter presents the alternative therapies for stable ischemic heart disease (SIHD) and for acute coronary syndrome (ACS), such as drug therapy, invasive therapy and minimally invasive therapy. Reference is made to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) 2011 respective guidelines, which recommend medical therapy for chronic stable angina and reperfusion therapy for patients with STEMI.