Congenital coronary arteries anomalies: review of the literature and multidetector computed tomography (MDCT)-appearance

Abstract

The prevalence of coronary arteries congenital anomalies is 1 to 2% in the general population. Although the spectrum of their clinical manifestations is very broad from total inocuity to lethal, anomalies of coronary arteries need to be recognized by clinicians in certain circumstances: they are the first cause of death in young adults under physical exercise and an abnormal course of a coronary artery can complicate a cardiac surgery. Therefore, a non-invasive test is highly suitable for detecting anomalies of coronary arteries and multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) is likely to be the best one. To understand how anomalies of coronary arteries may occur, we have reviewed the recent literature about their development. Then, the main types of anomalies are presented with their clinical context, and representative MDCT images from our personal database are used for illustration.