Prevalence of anatomical variants and coronary anomalies in 543 consecutive patients studied with 64-slice CT coronary angiography

Eur Radiol. 2008 Apr;18(4):781-91. doi: 10.1007/s00330-007-0821-9. Epub 2008 Feb 2.

Abstract

The aim of our study was to assess the prevalence of variants and anomalies of the coronary artery tree in patients who underwent 64-slice computed tomography coronary angiography (CT-CA) for suspected or known coronary artery disease. A total of 543 patients (389 male, mean age 60.5 +/- 10.9) were reviewed for coronary artery variants and anomalies including post-processing tools. The majority of segments were identified according to the American Heart Association scheme. The coronary dominance pattern results were: right, 86.6%; left, 9.2%; balanced, 4.2%. The left main coronary artery had a mean length of 112 +/- 55 mm. The intermediate branch was present in the 21.9%. A variable number of diagonals (one, 25%; two, 49.7%; more than two, 24%; none, 1.3%) and marginals (one, 35.2%; two, 46.2%; more than two, 18%; none, 0.6%) was visualized. Furthermore, CT-CA may visualize smaller branches such as the conus branch artery (98%), the sinus node artery (91.6%), and the septal branches (93%). Single or associated coronary anomalies occurred in 18.4% of the patients, with the following distribution: 43 anomalies of origin and course, 68 intrinsic anomalies (59 myocardial bridging, nine aneurisms), three fistulas. In conclusion, 64-slice CT-CA provides optimal visualization of the variable and complex anatomy of coronary arteries because of the improved isotropic spatial resolution and flexible post-processing tool.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Contrast Media
  • Coronary Angiography / methods*
  • Coronary Circulation
  • Coronary Vessel Anomalies / diagnostic imaging*
  • Coronary Vessel Anomalies / epidemiology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Iopamidol / analogs & derivatives
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Prevalence
  • Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

Substances

  • Contrast Media
  • iomeprol
  • Iopamidol