Large Coronary Cameral Fistula to the Left Ventricle Presenting as Congestive Heart Failure

Abstract

A 56-year-old African American female was under evaluation for coronary artery disease by a cardiologist due to her complaints of intermittent chest pain. She underwent an outpatient echocardiogram and was found to have an ejection fraction of 20-25% with global left ventricular hypokinesis. Due to this finding along with her ongoing chest pain, she was referred to the emergency department for further evaluation. Her electrocardiogram showed changes suggestive of ischaemia and her cardiac troponins were mildly elevated, so she underwent an urgent cardiac catheterisation. The angiography confirmed the reduced ejection fraction and global left ventricular hypokinesis, but also demonstrated a large coronary cameral fistula (CCF) extending from the first septal branch into the left ventricle. She was then diagnosed with non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy and heart failure with reduced ejection fraction secondary to the CCF. In this report, we illustrate a frequently encountered clinical scenario in which a patient presented with chest pain and EKG findings indicative of ischaemic cardiomyopathy. The patient also had several risk factors for coronary artery disease, however further investigation revealed an alternative diagnosis.

Learning points: A description of rare coronary anomalies adds to the fund of medical knowledge and can guide physicians to make evidence-based decisions regarding its management.Increasing description of coronary cameral fistula will alert clinicians to suspect it as a cause for worsening heart failure and as a treatable cause of non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy.

Keywords: Coronary fistula; congenital coronary fistula; coronary cameral fistula.

Figure 1

Electrocardiogram depicting new onset T-wave inversions in the anterior leads along with Q waves, indicative of myocardial ischaemia.

Figure 2

Cardiac catheterisation demonstrating a large coronary cameral fistula extending from the large first septal branch into the left ventricle.