EPIDEMIOLOGY OF CONGENITAL CORONARY-ARTERY ANOMALIES - A CORONARY ARTERIOGRAPHY STUDY ON A CENTRAL-EUROPEAN POPULATION

The anatomical patterns and frequency of occurrence of congenital coro nary anomalies (CCA) in a Central European cohort has not yet been stu died, The angiographic data of 7,694 consecutive patients undergoing c oronary arteriography at the Albert Stent-Gyorgyi Medical University, Szeged, Hungary, from 1984 to 1994 were analyzed. CCA were found in 10 3 patients (1.34% incidence). Ninety-eight of them (95.2%) had anomali es of origin and distribution, and five (4.8%) had coronary artery fis tulae. The incidence was the highest for the separate origin of left d escending artery and left circumflex from the left sinus of Valsalva ( 52.42%). Anomalous origin of the left circumflex coronary artery from the right coronary was 8.7% while from the right sinus of Valsalva 18. 4%. CCA, which may be associated with potentially serious events, such as ectopic coronary origin from the opposite aortic sinus (1.9%) and single coronary arteries (3.88%), were not frequent. The incidence of CCA in the Central European cohort under study was similar to that of the largest North American study. The anatomic classification presente d can be useful from both clinical and surgical standpoints. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.