Cor Vasa 2008, 50(12):455-459 | DOI: 10.33678/cor.2008.168

Coronary artery ectasia

Jiří Knot^1,*, Josef Bis², Richard Rokyta Jr.³, Josef Šťásek², Petr Widimský¹

¹ Kardiocentrum, III. interní klinika, Fakultní nemocnice Královské Vinohrady a 3. lékařská fakulty Univerzity Karlovy, Praha

² I. interní klinika, Fakultní nemocnice Hradec Králové a Lékařská- fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, Hradec Králové

³ I. interní klinika, Fakultní nemocnice Plzeň a Lékařská fakulta Univerzity Karlovy, Plzeň, Česká republika

Background: Localized or diffuse dilatation of the coronary arteries (coronary ectasia) is a well-known, albeit rare, angiographic finding. Its incidence ranges from 0.2% to 5.3% in the literature. We aimed to determine its incidence, baseline characteristics, and prognosis in patients in the Czech Republic.

Methods and Results: All 6,997 consecutive coronary angiograms performed through 12 months in three cardiac centers in the Czech Republic were analyzed. The follow-up period was one year. Of the 6,997 patients, only 52 (0.7%) were assigned to the coronary artery ectasia group. The right coronary artery was the most common vessel affected by coronary artery ectasia. The majority (82.7%) were males. The median age was 65 years. A total of 23% of patients were diagnosed to have diabetes mellitus, 78.8% hypertension, 61.5% dyslipidemia, more than half were smokers (55.5%). Patients with coronary artery ectasia without coexisting coronary artery disease had no history of myocardial infarction. No death -occurred in this group throughout the follow-up period of one year. A comparison of traditional risk factors for coronary artery disease and mortality between patients with isolated coronary artery ectasia and those with ectasia coexisting with stenosed coronary artery disease revealed no statistically significant differences in its incidence.

Conclusion: The incidence of coronary artery ectasia in our study was 0.7%. The majority of patients were males; they had hypertension and dyslipidemia, and a history of cigarette smoking. The most affected vessel was the right coronary artery. Isolated coronary ectasia occurred in 15.4%, no death in this group was noted

Keywords: Coronary artery ectasia; Aneurysm; Dilatation; Atherosclerosis

Published: December 1, 2008  Show citation