Jw. Dean et al., MYOCARDIAL-INFARCTION DUE TO CORONARY-ARTERY COMPRESSION BY AORTIC ROOT ABSCESS, International journal of cardiology, 41(2), 1993, pp. 165-167
A 44-year-old man with aortic valve disease presented with myocardial
ischaemia and ultimately infarction in the presence of suspected endoc
arditis. Thoracic computerised tomographic scan and coronary arteriogr
aphy suggested the ischaemia was caused by external compression of the
left coronary artery due to an aortic root abscess, later confirmed a
t surgery. Myocardial ischaemia is an infrequent accompaniment of infe
ctive endocarditis and is most commonly due to coexisting coronary dis
ease. More rarely, emboli from vegetations may give rise to infarction
. Although aortic root abscess is a well recognised complication of ao
rtic valve endocarditis, coronary artery compression is an unusual mod
e of presentation and we believe this to be the first reported case of
myocardial infarction resulting from external compression in this set
ting.