Background: Anomalous aortic origin of the left coronary artery with intraseptal course is a rare coronary anomaly associated with an increased risk of myocardial ischaemia. The role and techniques for surgical intervention are evolving, with numerous novel surgical techniques for this challenging anatomy reported in the last 5 years. We report our single-centre experience with surgical repair of intraseptal anomalous left coronary artery in the paediatric population, including clinical presentation, evaluation, and short- to mid-term outcomes.
Methods: All patients with coronary anomalies presenting to our institution undergo standardised clinical evaluation. Five patients aged 4 to 17 years underwent surgical intervention for intraseptal anomalous aortic origin of the left coronary artery between 2012 and 2022. Surgical techniques included coronary artery bypass grafting (n = 1), direct reimplantation with limited supra-arterial myotomy via right ventriculotomy (n = 1), and transconal supra-arterial myotomy with right ventricular outflow tract patch reconstruction (n = 3).
Results: All patients had evidence of haemodynamically significant coronary compression, and three had evidence of inducible myocardial ischaemia pre-operatively. There were no deaths or major complications. Median follow-up was 6.1 months (range 3.1-33.4 months). Patients who underwent supra-arterial myotomy (with or without reimplantation) had improved coronary flow and perfusion based on stress imaging and catheterisation data.
Conclusions: Surgical approaches to intraseptal anomalous left coronary artery with evidence of myocardial ischaemia continue to evolve, with new techniques demonstrating promising improvement in coronary perfusion. Further studies are warranted to determine long-term outcomes and refine indications for repair.
Keywords: Anomalous aortic origin of coronary artery; anomalous left coronary artery; coronary anomalies; coronary unroofing; intraseptal coronary.