Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci 2010; 14 (7): 613-618

Myocardial ischemia in cocaine-user with anomalous origin of the left circumflex coronary artery

N. Alessandri, A. Di Matteo, M. Petrassi, F. Tufano, L. Lanzi, L. Fusco, A. D’Ambrosi

Department of Heart and Great Vessels “A. Reale”, polo pontino, University of Rome “Sapienza”, Rome (Italy)


Abstract. – The prevalence of anomalous coronary artery is approximately 0.6-1.7% in patients who undergo coronary angiography. These anomalies may cause angina, acute myocardial infarction, syncope and sudden death. Cocaine abuse is now a major health hazard: more than 5 million of Americans are current users. Cocaine abuse can result in coronary artery vasocostriction and the association between cocaine abuse, myocardial ischemia and infarction in the absence of coronary artery disease has been reported. We report the case of a patient with a story of nasally inhaled cocaine abuse presented with exertional chest pain and a perfusion defect of the anterior and inferior-lateral walls of the left ventricle during myocardial perfusion SPECT. The anomalous origin of the left circumflex coronary artery from the righ sinus of Valsalva was detected during coronary angiography and confirmed by the multislice computed tomography (MSCT). Although the coronary angiography is the gold standard of cardiac imaging technique for the diagnosis of coronary artery disease the identification of anomalous coronary arteries is frequently difficult with conventional coronary angiography because of the lack of 3-dimensional (3D) information related to the course of the coronary arteries to the great vessels. The MSCT provides a high spatial resolution, which allows a successful identification of the congenital coronary artery anomalies. This case report provides further a supportive evidence for the role of MSCT in the detection of the coronary artery anomalies.

Corresponding Author: Nicola Alessandri, MD; e-mail: nicola.alessandri@uniroma1.it

To cite this article

N. Alessandri, A. Di Matteo, M. Petrassi, F. Tufano, L. Lanzi, L. Fusco, A. D’Ambrosi
Myocardial ischemia in cocaine-user with anomalous origin of the left circumflex coronary artery

Eur Rev Med Pharmacol Sci
Year: 2010
Vol. 14 - N. 7
Pages: 613-618