Right coronary artery arising from the left aortic sinus in a heart with left coronary dominance: a post-mortem description--a case report

Angiology. 1998 Mar;49(3):239-42. doi: 10.1177/000331979804900312.

Abstract

The authors report the post-mortem description of the coronary arterial circulation of an 81-year-old man. The heart showed a concordant atrioventricular and ventricle-arterial disposition. The coronary artery distribution presented left dominance. No myocardial scars were observed. The ostium of the right coronary artery (RCA) was located in the left aortic sinus just in front of the opening of the left coronary artery. The ostium was slit-like and its maximum diameter was 5 mm. The RCA began between the aorta and the pulmonary trunk and ended as a small right marginal artery. The absence of heart disease and the man's survival until an advanced age were probably due to the fact that the RCA supplied only a small portion of the right ventricle, given the left coronary dominance.

Publication types

  • Case Reports
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Aorta / pathology
  • Coronary Vessel Anomalies / pathology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Myocardium / pathology
  • Pulmonary Artery / pathology
  • Sinus of Valsalva / abnormalities*
  • Sinus of Valsalva / pathology