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Treatments and drugs
By Mayo Clinic staffThe treatment for small vessel disease involves medications to control the narrowing of your small blood vessels that could lead to a heart attack. Your doctor could prescribe:
- Statins. These medications affect the way your body absorbs cholesterol, which contributes to the narrowing of your arteries. Statins also help relax the blood vessels of your heart and treat blood vessel damage.
- Angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors. These medications help open your blood vessels, making it easier for blood to flow through, lowering your blood pressure and decreasing your risk of a heart attack.
- Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs). These medications relax your blood vessels, which lowers your blood pressure and makes it easier for your heart to pump blood.
- Daily aspirin therapy. Taking an aspirin a day can prevent blood clots, which can cause a heart attack. Even though aspirin is a nonprescription medication, talk to your doctor before taking a daily aspirin. Your doctor can let you know what dose to take and discuss any potential drug interactions.
- L-arginine. This amino acid may be prescribed by your doctor to treat symptoms of small vessel disease, especially if you have coronary artery spasm.
Because the blocked or narrowed blood vessels that cause the disease are so small, surgery is usually not a treatment option. If you're diagnosed with small vessel disease, you'll need to see your doctor regularly for checkups. Your doctor will determine how often you'll need to be examined, depending on the severity of your condition.
- Mayo Clinic Health Letter. "Small vessel heart disease." October 2007. Vol. 25, No. 10, pp. 1-3.
- Mayo Clinic Women's HealthSource. "Small vessel heart disease." February 2008. Vol. 12, No. 2, pp. 1-2
- National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. "What is coronary microvascular disease?" September 2007. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/cmd/cmd_all.html (Viewed 4-22-08).
- Camici PC, Crea F. Coronary microvascular dysfunction. New England Journal of Medicine. 2007, Vol. 356, pp. 830-840.
- Playford DA, et al. Combined effect of coenzyme Q10 and fenofibrate on forearm microcirculatory function in type 2 diabetes. Atherosclerosis. 2003, Vol. 168, pp. 169-179.
- Tiano L, et al. Effect of coenzyme Q10 administration on endothelial function and extracellular superoxide dismutase in patients with ischaemic heart disease: a double-blind, randomized controlled study. European Heart Journal. 2007, Vol. 28, pp. 2249-2255.
- Kurth T, et al. Migraine and ischaemic vascular events. Cephalalgia. 2007;27(8):965-975.
- Barrett BJ, et al. Differences in hormonal and renal vascular responses between normotensive patients with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease and unaffected family members. Kidney International. 1994;46(4):1118-1123.
- Schoenfeld Y, et al. Accelerated Atherosclerosis in Autoimmune Rheumatic Diseases. Circulation. 2005;112(21):3337-3347.
