Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2015 Jan 30;12(1):e6878.
doi: 10.5812/iranjradiol.6878. eCollection 2015 Jan.

Multimodality imaging of left circumflex artery to coronary sinus fistula

Affiliations
Case Reports

Multimodality imaging of left circumflex artery to coronary sinus fistula

Tan Ling Sze et al. Iran J Radiol. .

Abstract

Coronary artery fistula (CAF) is a rare anomaly of the coronary artery. Patients with this condition are usually asymptomatic. However, cardiac failure may occur later in life due to progressive enlargement of the fistula. Diagnosis is traditionally made by echocardiogram and conventional angiogram. However with the advantage of new technologies such as computed tomography (CT) coronary angiography, the course and communications of these fistulae can be delineated non-invasively and with greater accuracy. We report a case of a left circumflex artery fistula to the coronary sinus which was suspected on echocardiogram and the diagnosis was clinched on ECG-gated CT.

Keywords: Circumflex Artery; Computed tomography; Coronary Sinus; Fistula.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. A 35-year-old woman with recurrent attacks of palpitation since childhood. A) Transthoracic color Doppler echocardiography shows the dilated left circumflex artery (arrow) emptying into the big coronary sinus. B) Continuous turbulence flow on color Doppler at the level of coronary artery-coronary sinus connection as well as in the coronary sinus indicating a left-to-right shunts flow.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.. Axial (top left) and reconstructed images (top right and bottom) of coronary CT shows the dilated left circumflex artery (arrow) arising from the left coronary cusp and drains into the right atrium (*). AO = Aorta, CS = Coronary sinus, LA = Left atrium, LCX = Left circumflex artery, LV = Left ventricle, LVOT = Left ventricular outflow tract, PA = Pulmonary artery, RA = Right atrium
Figure 3.
Figure 3.. Volume rendering images of coronary CT show dilated left circumflex artery (Cx) (arrow).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.. Coronary angiography (anteroposterior view) demonstrates contrast opacified left circumflex artery that is markedly dilated. CS = Coronary sinus, LCX = Left circumflex artery, LM = Left main coronary artery

Similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Krause W. [Uber den ursprung einer accessorischen a Coronaria aus der a.] Z Ratl Med Pulmonalis. 1865;24:225–7.
    1. Wenger NK. In: Rare causes of coronary artery disease. JW Hurst, editor. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1978.
    1. Lin FC, Chang HJ, Wen MS, Yeh SJ, Wu D. Multiplane transesophageal echocardiography in the diagnosis of congenital coronary artery fistula. Am Heart J. 1995;130(6):1236–42. - PubMed
    1. Hirooka K, Hanatani A, Nakatani S, Yasumura Y, Bando K, Miyatake K, et al. Huge saccular aneurysm in a coronary-pulmonary fistula fed by the left and right coronary arteries. Circ J. 2002;66(5):525–7. - PubMed
    1. Qureshi SA. Coronary arterial fistulas. Orphanet J Rare Dis. 2006;1:51. doi: 10.1186/1750-1172-1-51. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources