Remedy Publications LLC.
Annals of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine
2019 | Volume 3 | Issue 3 | Article 1029 1
High-Risk Coronary Artery Anomalies, the Second Most
Common Cause of Sudden Cardiac Death in Young People:
A Case Study
OPEN ACCESS
*Correspondence:
Sarabjeet Singh, Department of
Cardiology, Central Cardiology Medical
Center, 2901 Sillect Avenue Suite 100,
Bakersfeld, CA 93308, USA,
E-mail: ssingh@heart24.com
Received Date: 13 Sep 2019
Accepted Date: 27 Sep 2019
Published Date: 11 Oct 2019
Citation:
Civelli VF, Sharma R, Sharma O,
Sharma P, Singh R, Singh S. High-Risk
Coronary Artery Anomalies, the Second
Most Common Cause of Sudden
Cardiac Death in Young People: A Case
Study. Ann Cardiol Cardiovasc Med.
2019; 3(3): 1029.
Copyright © 2019 Sarabjeet Singh.
This is an open access article
distributed under the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution,
and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly
cited.
Case Report
Published: 11 Oct, 2019
Introduction
Anatomical variations of the coronary arteries can range from fstulas to degrees of angulation
to sites of origin [1]. While most of these anomalies do not pose a signifcant functional threat, there
are a few that have been known to increase risk of death [2]. Providers should be concerned about
these high-risk situations known to cause arrhythmias, heart attacks and sudden cardiac death. We
will identify those concerning aberrations, understand the population at risk, identify how they
present and make recommendations.
Methods
Chart review of case study patient. Literature review: searched “coronary artery anomalies”,
“sudden cardiac death/arrest”, and “malignant coronary artery anatomy”.
Case Presentation
34-year old male patient presented to his Primary Care Physician (PCP) with complaints of
worsening chest pain. He is a non-smoker and denied alcohol or drug use but had strong family
history of premature coronary artery disease on both his maternal and paternal sides. His Body
Mass Index (BMI) was 36. Electrocardiogram (EKG) showed normal sinus rhythm, normal axis and
Interventricular Conduction Delay (IVCD) (Figure 1).
He had a history of essential hypertension and had been recently started on blood pressure
lowering medication Hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ) and cholesterol lowering medication Crestor.
Calcium score was ordered and found to be 291, with greatest contribution coming from the right
coronary artery, placing him at 90
th
percentile on MESA scale. See calcium score distribution in
Figure 2.
Two-dimensional (2D) echocardiogram was done and showed mild concentric lef ventricular
hypertrophy with normal Ejection Fractions (EF) of 60% to 65%. No valvular abnormalities were
detected (Figure 3).
Nuclear Medicine (NM) stress test and Single Positron Emission Computerized Test (SPECT)
Abstr act
It is our intention to present an atypical case of a high-risk coronary artery anomaly to draw
awareness and reduce mortality from Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) syndrome. SCD is the second
most common cause of high risk coronary anomalies in young people and nearly half a million
lives are taken per year from this condition.
We present a young, sedentary, symptomatic 34-year-old male patient who presented to his Primary
Care Physician (PCP) with complaints of worsening chest pain. He is a non-smoker and denied
alcohol or drug use but had strong family history of premature coronary artery disease on both his
maternal and paternal sides. Tis case is impactful because it shows a non-athlete profle which is an
outlier to the majority of literature which tends to portray only athletes and highly active patients.
Keywords: Coronary artery anomaly; Sudden cardiac death; Sudden cardiac arrest
Valerie F Civelli
1
, Ritika Sharma
1
, Ojas Sharma
1
, Parikshat Sharma
2
, Raman Singh
3
and
Sarabjeet Singh
1
*
1
Department of Cardiology, Central Cardiology Medical Center, USA
2
Department of Cardiology, Golden State Hospitalists Group, USA
3
Department of Cardiology, Hull York Medical School, UK