Rare coronary anomaly: Common origin of major coronary arteries from the right sinus of Valsalva and a small ramus branch originating from the left sinus of Valsalva

Computed Tomography Angiographic Features of Anomalous Origination of the Coronary Arteries in Adult Patients: A Literature Review and Coronary Computed Tomography Angiographic Illustrations

Computed tomography angiography not only detects atherosclerotic coronary artery disease but also helps delineate the anomalous coronary arterial anatomy that may be more than just an incidental finding and could contribute to patients' symptomatology. Additionally, identification of coronary artery anomalies is clinically significant for preoperative planning and optimizing the approach for coronary catheterizations or surgical treatments. In this work, we review rare origination anomalies of coronary arteries and illustrate their characteristics through computed tomography images.

Bilateral common carotid artery common trunk with aberrant right subclavian artery combined with right subclavian steal syndrome: A case report

BACKGROUND

We report a rare case of numbness in the right hand, finally diagnosed as bilateral common carotid artery common trunk with aberrant right subclavian artery combined with right subclavian steal syndrome and explain the cause of these diseases.

CASE SUMMARY

The patient was a 65-year-old woman. She complained of dizziness, numbness and weakness of the right hand for 6 mo. She was diagnosed with bilateral common carotid artery common trunk with aberrant right subclavian artery combined with right subclavian steal syndrome by ultrasound, enhanced computed tomography, computed tomography angiography and other examinations. Considering the surgical risks, the patient refused the aberrant right subclavian artery stent implantation and was discharged. We hypothesize that these two kinds of deformity and right subclavian steal syndrome may not occur by accident and result from multiple malformations.

CONCLUSION

Bilateral common carotid artery common trunk with aberrant right subclavian artery combined with right subclavian steal syndrome is rare. This case reminds interventional radiologists of the possibility of these abnormalities before surgery.

Anatomical variants and coronary anomalies detected by dual-source coronary computed tomography angiography in North-eastern Thailand

Purpose

Congenital coronary anomalies are uncommon, with an incidence ranging from 0.17% in autopsy cases to 1.2% in angiographically evaluated cases. The recent development of dual-source coronary computed tomography angiography (coronary CTA) allows accurate and noninvasive depiction of coronary artery anomalies.

Material and methods

A retrospective study included a total of 924 patients who underwent coronary CTA because of known or suspected coronary artery disease. In each study, coronary artery anomalies (CAs) were investigated.

Results

A total of 924 patients (mean age 51.2 ± 12.8 years), who underwent dual-source coronary CTA, were studied. The overall prevalence of CAs in our study was 3.7%, with the following distribution: four single coronary artery, 14 anomalous origin from opposite sinus of Valsalva, three absent left main, four high take-off coronary artery, three anomalous left coronary artery from pulmonary artery, and eight coronary artery fistulas.

Conclusions

The present study supports the use of coronary CTA as a reliable noninvasive tool for defining anomalous coronary arteries in an appropriate clinical setting and provides detailed three-dimensional anatomic information that may be difficult to obtain with invasive coronary angiography.

Congenital coronary anomalies detected by coronary computed tomography compared to invasive coronary angiography

Background

As coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) has emerged as a non-invasive alternative for evaluation of coronary anatomy with a lower referral threshold than invasive coronary angiography (ICA), the prevalence of coronary anomalies in CCTA may more closely reflect the true prevalence in the general population. Morphological features of coronary anomalies can be evaluated more precisely by CCTA than by ICA, which might lead to a higher identification of congenital coronary anomalies in CCTA compared to ICA.

To evaluate the incidence, clinical and morphological features of the anatomy of patients with coronary anomalies detected either by coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) with prospective ECG-triggering or invasive coronary angiography (ICA).

Methods

Consecutive patients underwent 64-slice CCTA (n = 1′759) with prospective ECG-triggering or ICA (n = 9′782) and coronary anatomy was evaluated for identification of coronary anomalies to predefined criteria (origin, course and termination) according to international recommendations.

Results

The prevalence of coronary anomalies was 7.9% (n = 138) in CCTA and 2.1% in ICA (n = 203; p < 0.01). The most commonly coronary anomaly detected by CCTA was myocardial bridging 42.8% (n = 59) vs. 21.2% (n = 43); p < 0.01, while with ICA an absent left main trunk was the most observed anomaly 36.0% (n = 73; p < 0.01). In 9.4% (n = 13) of identified coronary anomalies in CCTA 9.4% were potentially serious coronary anaomalies, defined as a course of the coronary artery between aorta and pulmonary artery were identified.

Conclusion

The prevalence of coronary anomalies is substantially higher with CCTA than ICA even after exclusion of patients with myocardial bridging which is more frequently found with CCTA. This suggests that the true prevalence of coronary anomalies in the general population may have been underestimated based on ICA.