VIDEO: Targeting coronary inflammation helps cardiologists provide better care

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the role of inflammation in coronary disease development, leading to groundbreaking research and the 2023 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of colchicine (Lodoco) as the first drug to treat coronary inflammation. Since then, cardiologists have been looking for additional information on how to detect and manage this previously ignored cause of heart disease.

"For years now, we've been able to target the lipids and blood pressure. But cardiologists, we really haven't had much in the way of targeting inflammation. That's really what's so exciting ... we finally have medications that are being tested and also approved for targeting inflammation to reduce cardiovascular risk," explained Michael Garshick, MD, director of the cardio-rheumatology program, cardiologist, and assistant professor at the Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology with NYU Grossman School of Medicine. He spoke with Cardiovascular Business on the significance of inflammation in cardiovascular health and the strides made in preventive cardiac care.

Inflammation has not been a big area of study and treatment by cardiologists, despite some inflammatory response in arteries being a primary reason why some atherosclerotic plaques become unstable vulnerable plaque prone to rupture and resulting in heart attacks. Without inflammation, the plaques remain stable. But attention to inflammation is now changing.

"Cardiologists are actually a bit behind in the field of inflammation compared to oncologists, immunologists, rheumatologists, dermatologists, even the gastroenterologists who are now involved with inflammatory bowel disease," Garshick explained.