Congenital Left Circumflex Coronary Artery Atresia Detected by 64-Slice Computed Tomography: A Case Report

• Main Authors: Chen-Yuan Liu, Chi-Wen Juan, Yu-Lin Pai, Yung-Zu Tseng
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2007-06-01
• Series: Kaohsiung Journal of Medical Sciences
• Subjects: 64-slice computed tomography; coronary anomalies; left circumflex coronary artery
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1607551X09704152

A variety of coronary artery disorders, including intramyocardial coronary segments and coronary artery anomalies, can result in sudden cardiac death, especially in young adults. The detection of structural coronary artery abnormalities is important in the management of patients at risk of sudden cardiac death. Coronary artery anomalies occur in about 1% of the population. Congenital absence of left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) is a very rare vascular anomaly, and few cases have been reported in the literature, with a frequency of only 0.003% in all patients who underwent coronary angiography. Although coronary catheterization is the gold standard for the evaluation of coronary arterial patency disease, noninvasive computed tomography (CT) is considered the diagnostic method of choice for the detection and evaluation of coronary artery anomaly. Herein, we report the case of a 17-year-old girl who presented with exertional dyspnea and chest pain and who was studied at our emergency department with the final diagnosis of LCX atresia detected by 64-slice CT. She may be the first case of congenital LCX atresia proved by multislice CT.