title: 'Missing' coronary arteries at urgent coronary angiography for ST-elevation myocardial infarction.
abstract: Coronary artery anomalies are a rare and often occasional finding at coronary angiography. When patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergo angiography preliminary to a primary percutaneous coronary intervention, a 'missing' coronary artery is usually ascribed to the culprit occluded vessel.Two patients with inferior STEMI were admitted to our cath lab for a primary percutaneous coronary intervention; in both cases an anomalous origin of the left coronary system--partially in one, entirely in the another--from the opposite sinus was documented at urgent angiography. The knowledge and the identification of coronary artery anomalies have extreme clinical relevance in urgent angiography for STEMI patients.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Cardiology and Center of Excellence on Aging, G d'Annunzio University, Chieti, Italy. m.zimarino@unich.it
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zimarino
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Barnabei
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: De Caterina
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000295:instrumentation; D017023:Coronary Angiography; D023921:Coronary Stenosis / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000628:therapy; D003330:Coronary Vessel Anomalies / Q000150:complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D015607:Stents; D016896:Treatment Outcome