Media Release

Mangaluru, Jun 4: Single coronary artery is a coronary anomaly where all the coronary arteries arise from a single ostium instead of two different origins normally, one from the right and one from the left aortic sinus. A similar case was seen at KMC, here.

A 68-year-old male patient complained of chest pain. Initial investigations were suggestive of unstable angina (heart attack). Dr Narasimha Pai, consultant cardiologist at KMC Mangaluru attended to the patient and advised coronary angiogram. The patient was taken up for coronary angiogram which showed a single coronary artery originating from the right aortic sinus. This type of coronary anomaly is seen in less than 0.1% of patients undergoing coronary angiograms. What was even more interesting was that the patient had blocks in both the branches of the left side (LAD & LCx).

Generally, these types of patients are referred for bypass surgery due to abnormal course of the blood vessels and difficulty in stenting these vessels by angioplasty. After a discussion with the cardiac surgeon and patient, it was decided to go ahead with angioplasty. Angioplasty was done successfully in spite of certain technical difficulties. The patient recuperated well after the procedure and is under regular follow up. Angioplasty in single coronary artery disease has rarely been reported in medical literature. This is probably the first time it has been done in coastal Karnataka.

Sharing details on the case, Dr Narsimha Pai, KMC Hospital Mangaluru, said, “The main coronary artery arising from the right sinus of Valsalva as a single coronary ostium is an extremely rare medical condition. Although these anomalies and stenosis of anomalous vessels have been described previously, the treatment of atherosclerotic lesions in these kinds of medical cases by angioplasty has hardly been reported. After discussing with the patient and the heart surgeon, we decided to perform angioplasty of both vessels rising from the same ostium and we are glad that it was successful and the patient is doing extremely well.”

Sharing his thoughts, Dr Anand Venugopal, medical superintendent, KMC Hospitals said, “KMC Hospitals Mangaluru are the only hospital in Dakshina Kannada offering comprehensive cardiac care with state-of-the-art infrastructures and cutting-edge technology as support. In fact, our doctors have achieved great milestones in terms of performing the most complex cardiac surgeries with diligence and precision. We will continue our efforts to offer affordable and quality treatment to all our patients.”