title: Isolated hypoplastic circumflex coronary artery: a rare cause of haemorrhagic myocardial infarction in a young athlete.
abstract: Hypoplastic coronary artery disease is a rare condition that may lead to myocardial infarction and sudden death. Here we describe for the first time an isolated hypoplasia of the left circumflex artery (LCX). An otherwise healthy and athletically active 16-year-old boy was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) after out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. He died 12 hours after the initial event. Autopsy revealed an isolated hypoplastic LCX and acute haemorrhagic infarction in the posterolateral myocardium. The existence of isolated hypoplasia of the LCX challenges our understanding of coronary artery development. Virtual slides: The virtual slide(s) for this article can be found here: http://www.diagnosticpathology.diagnomx.eu/vs/1558483061962648.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University Hospital Basel, Petersgraben 3, CH-4031 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Florian-Nikolaus
authors.initials: FN
authors.lastname: Riede
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bulla
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Grundmann
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: Urs-Nikolaus
authors.initials: UN
authors.lastname: Riede
authors.forename: Claudia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Otto
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D056352:Athletes; D001344:Autopsy / Q000379:methods; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000473:pathology*; D016757:Death, Sudden, Cardiac / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D006470:Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*; D058687:Out-of-Hospital Cardiac Arrest / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology