[Therapeutic options in patients with diabetes mellitus type 2 and coronary artery disease: intensified secondary prevention versus percutaneous or surgical revascularization].

Diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for coronary artery disease and is associated with accelerated disease progression and adverse prognosis. Although relief of symptoms can quickly be obtained by percutaneous intervention or bypass surgery, it does not change patients' prognoses, with the exception of stenoses of the left main stem or left anterior descending artery. A multifactorial intervention, which consists of a low-fat diet, glucose and arterial blood pressure control, smoking cessation and regular physical exercise, emerges as an alternative strategy since it leads to improvement of the modifiable risk factors, exercise tolerance and quality of life.