Cardiovascular disease: thinking beyond atherosclerosis. (16th April 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Vilardouro Paiva, Luis Manuel; Costa, Marco; Barra, Sergio; Providencia, Rui
• Is Part Of: BMJ case reports. Volume 2013
• Publication Date: 2013-04-16
• Subjects: Medicine -- Case studies -- Periodicals; 610.5
• DOI: 10.1136/bcr-2013-009348
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1757-790X

Abstract

Abstract : A 56-year-old female patient was referred to our institution for atypical chest pain and palpitations. Physical examination, resting ECG and transthoracic echocardiogram were unremarkable. Stress perfusion scintigraphy was positive for anterior and apical myocardial ischaemia. A subsequent coronary angiogram showed no signs of atherosclerotic coronary artery disease; however, it revealed a coronary arteriovenous fistula and multiple other fistulous connections between the proximal segment of the left coronary artery and the pulmonary artery trunk. We present a rare case of a symptomatic coronary fistula that was percutaneously closed using an Amplatzer Vascular Plug, which resulted in clinical improvement and late fistula occlusion. This case report underlines the importance of thinking beyond atherosclerosis in the evaluation of chest pain syndromes. Moreover, it describes some of the angiogram caveats in assessing the coronary fistula number and morphology, as well as the cardiac-catheter potential for multiple pathway coronary artery fistulae closure.