Congenital absence of the right coronary artery: A case report and literature review.

RATIONALE

Congenital absence of the right coronary artery (RCA) is a rare congenital malformation of the cardiovascular system which may have fatal consequences.

PATIENT CONCERNS

A 63-year-old man with a 5-year history of chest pain after exertion which had aggravated for >1 month was advised for admission and computed tomography angiography (CTA) examination of the coronary artery to screen for coronary artery disease (CAD).

DIAGNOSES

The coronary artery CTA showed absence of RCA arising form the aortic root after which a selective coronary angiography (SCA) examination was done that confirmed the diagnosis of congenital absence of RCA.

INTERVENTIONS

As the patient refused to receive a coronary artery stent implantation citing his financial condition, only symptomatic treatment was given.

OUTCOMES

The patient requested to be discharged from the hospital against the advice of his doctors 1 week later. A query made by the telephone suggested that the patient's symptoms were under control by use of prescribed medications only.

LESSONS

Although being a rare condition, a coronary artery CTA examination can be utilized to screen for congenital absence of RCA and other varieties of cardiovascular malformation whereas SCA can be performed to confirm the diagnosis.