Evaluation of myocardial bridge with multidetector computed tomography.
BACKGROUND
The myocardial bridge (MB) is an intramural segment of coronary artery that is covered with myocardial tissue. The current diagnostic methods are coronary angiography, intravascular ultrasound and intracoronary Doppler, which are all invasive modalities. In this study, multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) was used to detect and evaluate the anatomical properties of the MB.


RESULTS
The 607 patients with suspected or known coronary artery disease underwent 64-slice MDCT. MB was diagnosed when an intramural segment of coronary artery was visualized on axial and multiplanar reconstruction images. The prevalence, length, myocardial thickness, and location were evaluated. Of the 607 patients, 39 (6.42%) had a MB. In 20 patients (52.6%), the MB was located in the mid left anterior descending artery. The length of tunneled artery was a mean 16.3 mm, from 6.9 mm to 30 mm, and the maximum thickness of the myocardial tissue was between 0.5 mm and 3.9 mm, with a mean of 1.8 mm. The length of the MB correlated significantly with thickness (P=0.049).


CONCLUSIONS
The incidence of MB and its anatomical properties can be evaluated with MDCT, which might be a useful and noninvasive method of detecting this variant. (Circ J 2010; 74: 137 - 141).
Kim
So Yeon
SY
Department of Cardiology, College of Medicine Catholic University of Daegu, Korea.
Lee
Young Soo
YS
Lee
Jin Bae
JB
Ryu
Jae Kean
JK
Choi
Ji Yong
JY
Chang
Sung Gug
SG
Kim
Kee-Sik
KS
D000368:Aged; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006321:Heart / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054084:Myocardial Bridging / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D009206:Myocardium / Q000473:pathology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D036542:Tomography, Spiral Computed / Q000379:methods*