A Kaleidoscope heart

Echocardiography. 2019 May;36(5):1017-1018. doi: 10.1111/echo.14345. Epub 2019 Apr 26.

Abstract

In the current manuscript, we report an unusual case of a young 18-year-old woman who survived an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest secondary to Bland-White-Garland syndrome. Her transthoracic echocardiogram showed an abnormal color Doppler flow-pattern within the myocardium indicative of coronary fistulous flow that prompted further evaluation with coronary CT angiography, which confirmed the diagnosis. Our case serves not only as a reminder to consider coronary artery anomalies as a cause of sudden cardiac death in young individuals but also as a prompt to investigate unusual echocardiographic findings with alternative imaging when the diagnosis may not be initially clear.

Keywords: computed tomography; congenital heart disease; coronary artery ectasia; echocardiography.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Bland White Garland Syndrome / complications*
  • Bland White Garland Syndrome / diagnostic imaging*
  • Coronary Angiography / methods
  • Diagnosis, Differential
  • Echocardiography, Doppler, Color / methods*
  • Female
  • Heart
  • Heart Arrest / etiology*
  • Humans