Clouse Michele, Cailes Colleen, Devine Judy, Jordan Mary, Lester Joel, Lo Linda, Shah Maully, Wenger Joanne, Stevenson J Geoffrey
Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center and University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, USA.
J Am Soc Echocardiogr. 2002 Oct;15(10 Pt 2):1127-31. doi: 10.1067/mje.2002.123257.
Abnormalities of coronary artery (CA) origins may be associated with sudden death. No data exist regarding the feasibility of routine echocardiographic imaging of CA in pediatrics.
Our aim was to determine the feasibility of imaging CA origins during routine echocardiograms.
One hundred randomly selected children without clinical evidence of heart disease were studied. The mean age was 13.8 +/- 6.4 years. Location of CA origins were tallied with clock-face reference.
The left CA origin was imaged in 98% with the origin most commonly at 3:30 o'clock. The right CA origin was imaged in 95% with the origin most commonly at 11 o'clock. Four abnormalities of CA were discovered: right CA origin from the left coronary sinus n = 2, circumflex from right CA origin n = 1, and small left CA origin to pulmonary artery fistula n = 1.
We conclude that imaging of CA origins during routine pediatric echocardiograms is feasible with a potentially life-saving result.