Tracking coronary calcification and atherosclerotic lesions in patients with stable angina pectoris undergoing nifedipine therapy

Aims: The objective of the Coronary Calcification (CC) study was to determine in patients with chronic symptomatic coronary artery disease, if, in addition to standard therapy, nifedipine GITS, relative to placebo, would arrest or slow down the progression of calcium or the development of new atherosclerotic lesions in the coronary arteries. Methods and Results: The CC study was part of the ACTION trial. Multi-slice computerized tomography was used to measure and track the progression of CC. Five hundred and eighteen patients were included in this study. The changes in calcium score from baseline every 24 months, over a period of between 4.5 and 6 years, were similar in the nifedipine and placebotreatment groups (p = 0.8). Compared to placebo, more patients in the nifedipine group (71 vs. 60%) were free of new calcified atherosclerotic lesions during follow-up(p = 0.095). Conclusion: Nifedipine GITS was not effective in slowing down the progression of calcium in advanced atherosclerotic plaques in patients with stable angina pectoris. Although statistically not significant, Nifedipine demonstrated a trend in slowing down the development of new atherosclerotic lesions.