Atypical presentation of an anomalous origin of the right coronary artery with severe compression between the great vessels

Anomalous aortic origin of the right coronary artery is a rare coronary anomaly which, in a minority of cases, can cause clinical manifestations such as ischemic chest pain or arrhythmic syncope. We describe a case of anomalous aortic origin of the right coronary artery characterized by signs of left heart failure associated with ventricular tachycardia.     

Anomalous origin of the stenosed circumflex artery from the right coronary artery

During recent years, anatomic variations of coronary arteries have been described with the aid of elective coronary arteriography. We report a case of anomalous origin of the stenosed circumflex artery from the right coronary artery. The patient was operated upon successfully, and the right internal mammary artery was placed on the circumflex artery.     

Aortic root replacement with anomalous origin of the coronary arteries

Coronary arteries with anomalous origin from the aorta can be at risk during aortic valve procedures. We report a case of origin of the circumflex and left coronary artery from the proximal right coronary artery in a patient with a bicuspid aortic valve and aortic root aneurysm. Attention to the anatomic relationship of the anomalous arteries to the aorta allowed safe aortic root replacement.     

Aortic valve replacement in patients with an anomalous left circumflex artery: technical considerations

The abnormal origin of the left circumflex artery from the proximal right coronary artery (RCA) is considered a coronary artery anomaly. Most of the coronary artery anomalies are diagnosed incidentally by coronary artery angiography, and several considerations are needed to avoid fatal complications in patients undergoing aortic valve replacement (AVR). We report a case of AVR with anomalous origin of the left circumflex artery from a common ostium of the RCA, and discuss the use of a smaller prosthesis to avoid compression of the anomalous left circumflex artery.     

Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting for a patient with anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery.

We report on a case of a 70-year-old chronic hemodialysis patient. He presented with anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ARCAPA) and severe left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) stenosis, which supplied collateral flow to the right coronary artery (RCA). The patient complained of myocardial ischemic symptoms during routine hemodialysis. We performed off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCABG) surgery and ligation of the origin of the ARCAPA. Previous reports described that the myocardial ischemia was a rare complication with the ARCAPA patients. However, this case required coronary revascularization because of the atherosclerotic LAD stenosis as a collateral source of the RCA.     

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome with anomalous origin of the right coronary artery

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome in association with an anomalous origin of a coronary artery from the pulmonary artery is a very rare congenital malformation. In the few reported cases, the left coronary artery or the circumflex artery arises from the right pulmonary artery. We describe a newborn who presented with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, and at the time of operation had an anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the right pulmonary artery that was detected. The patient underwent a successful modified Norwood procedure with direct reimplantation of the right coronary artery to the neo-aorta.     

Two cases of anomalous origin of LAD from right coronary artery requiring coronary artery bypass

We experienced two cases with anomalous origin of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) from the proximal right coronary artery requiring coronary artery bypass grafting. A 66-yr old female with a long history of angina and a positive stress test had the anomalous artery coursing anterior to the right ventricular outflow tract. A 42-yr old male with worsening angina after an anteroseptal myocardial infarction had the anomalous artery running between the great vessels. Both patients underwent left internal mammary artery-to-LAD bypass on the beating heart with complete resolution of ischemic symptoms.Isolated coronary artery anomaly is an uncommon disease (0.6-1.2%) in patients undergoing cardiac catheterization. An anomalous origin of the LAD from the proximal right coronary artery (RCA) or the right sinus of Valsalva (RSV) is very rare, found in 1.2-6.1% of all coronary anomalies. This coronary anomaly has been considered potentially serious but functionally unimportant. We report two cases of anomalous LAD from the proximal RCA resulting in anterior wall ischemia which was effectively treated by coronary artery bypass surgery.     

Anomalous coronary artery in a transplanted heart: a technical modification.

We report the case of a 47-year-old man who underwent orthotopic heart transplantation for valvular cardiomyopathy. At the time of cardiac catheterization we identified an anomalous origin of the donor left main coronary artery from the right coronary sinus of Valsalva. To decrease the risk of left main coronary artery compression during re-implantation of the transplanted heart, we performed a careful geometric arrangement of the aortopulmonary artery angle. This simple technical modification suggests that a heart with an anomalous left coronary artery may be safely used for organ donation.     

Hyperdominant left anterior descending artery continuing across left ventricular apex as posterior descending artery coexistent with aortic stenosis

We describe, in a 61 year old man, with coexistent aortic stenosis, the anomalous origin of posterior descending artery (PDA) from a stenotic left anterior descending (LAD) artery, as its continuation across the left ventricular apex, in the presence of a normally arising and atretic proximal right coronary artery. The patient underwent mechanical aortic valve replacement and triple coronary artery bypass grafting and made an uneventful recovery. To the best of our knowledge, origin of PDA as a continuation of LAD across the left ventricular apex in the presence of a normally arising but atretic proximal right coronary artery has never been described in literature before. There is one previous case report of continuation of LAD as PDA across the left ventricular apex in a patient with single left coronary coronary artery with an absent right coronary ostium. As the blood supply to the entire interventricular septum is derived from this "hyperdominant" LAD system, stenosis of LAD can be catastrophic. A review of literature of the anomalies of right coronary artery and, in particular, of its anomalous origin from LAD and its coexistence with aortic stenosis, is presented.     

High origin of the right coronary artery with partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection to the left superior caval vein in tetralogy of Fallot

The prevalence of anomalous origin of coronary artery in tetralogy of Fallot has been reported to be around 4% to 6%. The association of high take-off of the right coronary artery from the distal part of the ascending aorta in tetralogy of Fallot in the presence of a partial anomalous pulmonary venous connection (PAPVC) to the left superior caval vein draining into the left atrium is not known to the best of our knowledge. We herein describe such a case when the anomalous right coronary artery and the PAPVC were detected incidentally during intracardiac repair; signifying the importance of a thorough assessment of the anatomy before surgery.     

Anomalous right subclavian artery with ascending aortic aneurysm: a case report

We report a rare case of the ascending aortic aneurysm with an anomalous origin of the right subclavian artery. The right subclavian artery branched from the aorta as the fourth major vessel and ran behind the esophagus. Moreover, the left and right coronary arteries arose ectopically from the posterior and the left aortic sinus, respectively.     

Anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery

A case of anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery in a 73-year-old man is presented. The patient had been suffering from chronic heart failure with mitral and tricuspid regurgitation and atrial fibrillation for two years. Surgical repair was performed successfully, including ligation of the right coronary artery and coronary arterial bypass with a radial artery graft.     

Repair of tetralogy of Fallot associated with anomalous origin of right pulmonary artery and accessory left anterior descending coronary artery

We present an unusual combination of lesions in an 8-month-old child diagnosed with tetralogy of Fallot, anomalous origin of right pulmonary artery, and anomalous coronary artery crossing the pulmonary annulus. The association of anomalous origin of branch pulmonary artery from aorta and tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is extremely rare with an incidence of 0.4%. The incidence of anomalous coronary artery in TOF is 10.3%. However, a combination of all three lesions poses challenges to surgical repair and has not been previously reported.     

Anomalous left main coronary artery arising from the pulmonary artery in an adult: Treatment by direct reimplantation

We herein report the case of a 37-year-old woman in whom an anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery was surgically corrected. A magnetic resonance angiogram showed the left main coronary artery connecting to the right posterior portion of the pulmonary trunk, and exercise-stressed thallium-201 perfusion scintigrams demonstrated a large reversible anterior defect. She was successfully treated by direct aortic reimplantation of the abnormal left coronary artery. We were able to obtain a sufficient length of the left main trunk by excising the large cuff of pulmonary artery wall surrounding the ostium of the anomalous left coronary artery while transecting the pulmonary artery. Postoperative angiograms demonstrated a widely patent left coronary artery, a decrease in the size of the right coronary artery, and no collaterals, and exercise-stressed thallium-201 perfusion scintigrams demonstrated no remaining ischemic defect at all. Direct aortic reimplantation is an ideal operation but is still limited by the anatomical position of the left coronary artery. In this case, magnetic resonance angiography was an excellent method for deciding the optimum operative procedure for the anomalous left coronary artery. In addition, exercise thallium-201 scintigraphy was found to be useful in recognizing the revascularized effect of the left ventricle.     

Anomalous origin of the right coronary artery with aortopulmonary window: functional and surgical considerations.

A rare case of anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the pulmonary artery associated with a large aortopulmonary window in a 4-month-old boy is reported. The right coronary artery is exposed to systemic pressure and carries fairly well-oxygenated blood to the myocardium. Angiographic diagnosis could be difficult because of the simultaneous filling of both great arteries which obscures the origin of the anomalous vessel. Closure of the aortopulmonary window alone could result in acute myocardial ischaemia. A plastic procedure for correction of this association of defects, which should allow normal growth, is described.     

The use of intraoperative Doppler assessment to guide the surgical treatment of anomalous right coronary arteries

Abstract   Despite its rarity, anomalous origin of the right coronary artery (RCA) from the left coronary sinus can pose risk of sudden death. Because of this risk, many patients elect surgical correction of this anomaly. Surgical strategies for correction of this include ostioplasty, coronary artery reimplantation, and, more commonly, coronary artery bypass grafting. After coronary artery bypass grafting, some advocate ligation of the proximal RCA, speculating that competitive flow will cause graft failure. As no objective criteria for this have been established, we propose a method using of intraoperative Doppler flow measurements to guide the decision to preserve the proximal anomalous native vessel. We present three cases in which an RCA with an anomalous origin from the left sinus was corrected with coronary artery bypass grafting with the assistance of intraoperative Doppler flow measurements to guide the decision to preserve the proximal anomalous native vessel. In each case, the RCA was bypassed using a saphenous vein graft (SVG) that was used to bypass origin of the RCA. Flow through the graft was compared with and without ligation of the proximal RCA, before creation of the proximal anastomosis. In each case, flow through the SVG was not significantly reduced with the proximal RCA patent and ligation was not performed.     

Surgery for anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the left aortic sinus

This case report illustrates the presentation, diagnosis, and surgical management of an anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the left coronary sinus in a young adult in whom the right coronary artery was reimplanted directly onto the aorta, rather than bypassed, as is typically done.     

High anomalous origin of both coronary arteries in a patient with aortic valve disease

High anomalous origin of both coronary arteries is extremely rare. We report the case of a patient with a right coronary artery that originated from the left surface of the ascending aorta approximately 25 mm above the sinotubular junction and a left coronary artery that originated from the sinotubular junction close to the non-left commissure. The patient also had persistent left superior vena cava. We diagnosed the anomaly preoperatively using 64-slice multidetector computed tomographic angiography. The detailed imaging information helped us to avoid coronary artery injury and perform the operation safely with adequate myocardial protection.     

Aortopulmonary window and anomalous coronary artery: an exceptional association

Aortopulmonary window is rarely associated with other cardiac anomalies, such as anomalous origin of one coronary artery. This exceptional association has been reported in 15 patients, with different surgical solutions. We describe 2 patients with aortopulmonary window with anomalous origin of the right coronary artery, one of which presented with tetralogy of Fallot-pulmonary atresia. A neonatal modified Blalock-Taussig shunt and ligature of the distal pulmonary artery at the level of pulmonary bifurcation was performed in the first patient, and the second patient underwent aortopulmonary window division with anomalous coronary artery reimplantation. Both patients had an uneventful postoperative course.     

Tetralogy of Fallot with anomalous origin of left anterior descending coronary artery. Surgical options

Anomalous origin of the left anterior descending coronary artery from the right coronary artery can interfere with the location of the usual ventriculotomy during repair of tetralogy of Fallot. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of two operative techniques: (1) a "tailored" right ventricular incision and outflow patch reconstruction and (2) placement of a conduit from the right ventricle to the main pulmonary artery. We reviewed the records of 416 patients who had complete repair of tetralogy of Fallot at the Mayo Clinic from 1973 through 1984. Twenty (5%) (median age 6.5 years) had anomalous origin of the left anterior descending coronary artery from the right coronary artery. Twelve of these patients had right ventricular outflow patch reconstruction, and eight had placement of a conduit from the right ventricle to the pulmonary artery. Three deaths occurred, all during hospitalization, two in the patch reconstruction group and one in the conduit group. The average reduction in right ventricular pressure postoperatively was slightly but not significantly greater for the conduit group. These data indicate that correction of tetralogy of Fallot with anomalous origin of the left anterior descending coronary artery can be done with either patch reconstruction or conduit placement. Selection of the more appropriate procedure depends on the exact location and degree of tortuosity of the anomalous artery and the level and severity of right ventricular outflow obstruction.