title: [Anomalous origin of the right coronary artery from the ascending aorta].
abstract: The patient was a 77-year-old man. In June 2008, he underwent off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) for unstable angina Intraoperative epiaortic echo showed an anomalous origin of theright coronary artery from the ascending aorta 4 cm above the sinotubular junction (STJ). The right coronary artery traveled through the planned proximal anastomotic site of the saphenous vein graft (SVG). If diagnosis of the anomalous origin of the right coronary artery had not been made, there would have been a high likelihood that the right coronary artery could have been injured. Thus, the usefulness of epiaortic echo was reaffirmed. An anomalous origin of the coronary artery is a rare congenital anomaly and its incidence is approximately 1%. An anomalous origin of the right coronary artery is very rare from the ascending aorta 4 cm above the STJ and only a few cases have been reported. An anomalous origin of the coronary artery can cause serious complications affecting the prognosis after open heart surgery. Thus, such an anomalous origin needs to be considered in preoperative evaluation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Saga University Faculty of Medicine, Saga, Japan.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Katayama
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Uchino
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshitake
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Noguchi
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Furukawa
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Okazaki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morita
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000789:Angina, Unstable / Q000601:surgery; D001011:Aorta / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D047549:Coronary Artery Bypass, Off-Pump; D003330:Coronary Vessel Anomalies / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging; D006801:Humans; D007432:Intraoperative Period; D008297:Male; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures