Background and objectives: It has been demonstrated that the anomalous origin of coronary arteries (AOCA) are generally asymptomatic and rare diseases. However, some cases can cause severe life threatening events. To detect these anomalies, coronary angiographies and autopsies were used to detect coronary artery anomalies, but these procedures have limitations because of their invasiveness. The new device, Multidetector Computed Tomography (MDCT), now replaces the method of choice for detecting coronary anomalies. The prevalence of these anomalies in Korea has not been studied yet. This present analysis attempted to determine the prevalence of AOCA in Korean men by MDCT.
Subjects and methods: 1582 Korean male police officers underwent coronary MDCT for their health screening voluntarily. After reconstruction of CT images, we could confirm coronary artery anomalies.
Results: The prevalence of AOCA in Korean men was 1.14% (18 out of 1582 cases). The most common abnormality (11 cases, 0.70%) was the origin of the coronary artery. Anomalies of the coronary artery end point were observed in 5 cases (0.32%). The anomalous location of coronary ostium on the aortic root was observed in 1 case (0.06%). An anomalous collateral vessel was observed in 1 case (0.06%).
Conclusion: The prevalence of coronary artery anomalies in Korean men was 1.14%. Coronary CT is a safe and noninvasive modality for detecting coronary anomalies.
Keywords: Coronary vessel anomalies; Multidetector computed tomography; Prevalence.