Coronary anomalies by cardiac computed tomographic angiography

BACKGROUND: Early identification of an anomalous coronary anatomy is quite relevant because of the increased incidence of sudden cardiac death or related symptoms of myocardial ischemia in the patients. Invasive coronary angiography (ICA) is not only invasive, but expensive, and cannot always adequately provide the required information about the abnormal coronary anatomy. Cardiac computed tomographic angiography (CTA) is a robust noninvasive imaging modality that has several clinical applications and is now being used increasingly in practices across the nation. It not only provides high-resolution anatomical information of the coronary artery tree but also helps define other aspects of the cardiovascular anatomy, be it normal or abnormal. HYPOTHESIS: This study sought to determine the clinical role played by CTA in the evaluation of different types of coronary arterial anomalies by reviewing CTA studies since 1997. METHODS: We reviewed 6,089 case studies of contrast CTA conducted at our institution. There were 53 coronary anomalies in 39 patients (0.64%). RESULTS: Computed tomographic angiography correctly identified the course of coronary arteries in all cases. CONCLUSION: The results of this study support the use of CTA as a safe and effective noninvasive imaging modality for defining coronary arterial anomalies in an appropriate clinical setting, providing detailed three-dimensional anatomic information that may be difficult to obtain with invasive angiography.