title: Anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery confirmed by 320-slice computed tomography.
abstract: Anomalous origin the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) is an extremely rare congenital coronary abnormality that may be difficult to diagnose by echocardiography. Most patients present with a potentially fatal illness leading to sudden cardiac death during infancy. This report describes a 15-year-old girl who had 15-year history of cardiac murmur but with no clinical symptoms. Echocardiographic examination was normal, but a 320-slice computed tomographic (CT) scan showed the anomalous origin of the left coronary artery form the pulmonary artery. This case demonstrates that the 320-slice CT scan is a sensitive and reliable technique for establishing the diagnosis of ALCAPA in both symptomatic and asymptomatic patients when it cannot be visualized by echocardiography.
authors.affiliation: Department of Thoracic Cardiovascular Surgery, Wuhan General Hospital of Guangzhou Command, 627# Wuluo Road, Wuchangqu, Wuhan 430070, Hubei, People's Republic of China. zhujian0718@163.com
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shui-Bo
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003330:Coronary Vessel Anomalies / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D004452:Echocardiography; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D011651:Pulmonary Artery / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed / Q000379:methods*