Open AccessSudden cardiac death associated with an extremely rare coronary anomaly of the left and right coronary arteries arising exclusively from the posterior (noncoronary) sinus of valsalva
Author(s) -
Catanzaro John N.,
Makaryus Amgad N.,
Catanese Charles
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
clinical cardiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.263
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1932-8737
pISSN - 0160-9289
DOI - 10.1002/clc.4960281111
Subject(s) - medicine , cardiology , coronary arteries , sinus (botany) , right coronary artery , sudden death , coronary artery anomaly , sudden cardiac death , coronary sinus , artery , left coronary artery , coronary angiography , myocardial infarction , botany , biology , genus
Abstract Congenital anomalies of the coronary arteries are relatively uncommon conditions and have been associated with sudden cardiac death (SCD) in children. Although anomalous coronary artery distribution is widely reported in the literature, no articles to date address the origin of both the right (RCA) and left coronary arteries (LCA) from the posterior (noncoronary) sinus of Valsalva. This is a report of a 16‐year‐old black male in good health, who collapsed and was unable to be resuscitated after physical exertion while playing basketball. In this patient, postmortem evaluation revealed the LCA and RCA originating exclusively from the posterior (noncoronary) sinus with acute angle takeoff of the LCA which likely lead to ischemia, causing SCD. We discuss the incidence of coronary artery anomalies and the proposed mechanisms that led to SCD in these patients.