There is no method that can completely eliminate plaque, but plaque can be shrunk through medication and plaque debridement and plaque grinding.
Plaque in blood vessels generally refers to atherosclerotic plaque, the formation of which occurs after damage to the intima of the artery, the deposition of lipids in the blood on the surface of the damage to form a pool of lipids, and hyperplasia of the damaged intima to form a fibrous membrane to cover the surface of the lipids to form a fibrous cap.
It is currently believed that lipid-lowering drugs such as statins and PCSK9 inhibitors can stabilize and reduce plaque to a certain extent, but the effect is limited.
For larger plaques, interventional techniques such as plaque debridement or endovascular plaque milling can be used to reduce the size of the plaque, but such methods usually cause damage to the intima, and are only used as an adjunct in certain special cases or interventional procedures, and are not routinely carried out to deal with plaques.
Arterial plaque formation is a necessary pathophysiologic process in many diseases such as coronary artery disease and cerebral hypoperfusion, and therefore plaques need to be treated in a timely manner in order to slow down their progression and to avoid further damage to the body.