Clinical case of coronary artery aneurysm

Abstract

An aneurysm of a coronary artery is considered to be its expansion by 1.5 times or more over a short distance. The relevance of this pathology is determined by the severity of complications, mainly thrombotic. According to autopsies, it is detected in approximately 1.5% of all autopsies. In the majority of cases, coronary artery aneurysms are asymptomatic, but they also can cause symptoms similar to acute coronary syndrome. A rupture of the aneurysm is a rare but potentially dangerous complication of coronary artery aneurysm. The tactics of managing patients is determined by the severity of symptoms, aneurysm localization, the dynamics of the aneurysm, the presence of myocardial infarction in the area of the altered artery blood supply, the risk of surgical intervention, the distribution and degree of atherosclerotic changes in the coronary vessels, and the possibilities of drug therapy. Reliable diagnostic methods are coronary angiography and multidetector computed tomography. The paper describes a clinical case with patient G., aged 50, who was admitted to the emergency cardiology department with a typical picture of acute coronary syndrome, with stable hemodynamics and without echocardiographic signs of ischemia or infarction. An in-depth study of the coronary system was carried out in order to determine the prospects and the need for planned percutaneous coronary intervention. Computed tomography was performed for this purpose and revealed not only high degrees of stenosis in several coronary arteries, but also structural changes in the coronary system in the form of an aneurysm of the proximal segment of the anterior interventricular branch. The results obtained with computed tomography determined the need for coronary angiography. Its data made it possible to clarify the number, location and severity of stenotic changes in the coronary arteries, as well as to determine other localizations of aneurysms of the coronary system. The summary data of the two studies made it possible to establish that the patient had both stenosing atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries and multiple aneurysms of some arteries at the same time. It was deemed appropriate to continue conservative treatment aimed at preventing recurrence of acute coronary syndrome and thrombosis of coronary artery aneurysm, treatment of hypertension and secondary prevention of atherosclerosis. This clinical case demonstrates that the combined pathology of the coronary arteries can have clinical manifestations in the form of a single episode of acute coronary syndrome.

Keywords

coronary artery aneurysm / etiology / diagnostics / clinical case

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