Sudden and unexpected death of a 6-month-old baby with silent heart failure due to anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery.
A 6-month-old girl died suddenly without any previous symptoms of heart failure. Autopsy examination showed cardiomegaly (97 g) with a severely fibrotized myocardium. The left coronary artery was originating from the pulmonary artery. Histologically, the myocardium showed myocardial infarcts of different ages, as well as grossly thickened arterial branches due to increased flow in left-right shunt. We suggest that rare anomalies of the coronary arteries should be considered in the autopsies of suspected sudden infant death syndrome cases.
Lalu
K
K
Department of Forensic Medicine, University Central Hospital of Helsinki, Finland.
Karhunen
P J
PJ
Rautiainen
P
P
D002303:Cardiac Output, Low / Q000209:etiology*; D006332:Cardiomegaly / Q000473:pathology; D003330:Coronary Vessel Anomalies / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D013398:Sudden Infant Death / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology