Technical success and long‐term outcomes after anomalous right coronary artery stenting with cardiac computed tomography angiography correlation

Introduction Anomalous origin of coronary arteries has been observed in about 0.35–2.10% of the population. Patients with anomalous right coronary artery (ARCA) may present with significant symptoms, arrhythmias or ACS, and at times sudden death. Traditionally, surgical correction has been the recommended treatment. However, these may be technically challenging, and bypass grafting for such anomalies has the potential for graft failure because of competitive flow. We sought to determine the intermediate and long‐term outcomes of drug‐eluting stent placement for patients with symptomatic ARCA. We also looked at angiographic findings suggestive of interarterial course as confirmed by subsequent computed tomography (CT) findings. Methods Between January 2005 and December 2012, we enrolled 11 patients for elective percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) of ARCA in a single center, prospective, nonrandomized fashion. Patients were followed up in clinic at 1 week, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year, and then annually or more frequently if needed. All patients underwent a cardiac CT, as well as functional stress testing when needed to assess for recurrence of disease. Results All 11 of our patients, who presented with significant symptomatic stenosis with an ARCA, were successfully treated with PCI. Mean follow‐up duration was 8.5 years. The only two deaths during follow‐up were related to noncardiac causes (sepsis), with a mortality rate of 18.2%. Two patients had a positive functional study and on subsequent coronary angiography, one of them had significant in‐stent restenosis (target lesion revascularization of 9.1%) and one distal to the stent (target vessel revascularization 9.1%). We found the observation of a “slit‐like lesion” on angiography to have a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 86% for the diagnosis of interarterial course of the anomalous vessel seen on subsequent CT. Conclusions Our study results suggest that PCI of ARCA is an effective and low‐risk alternative to surgical correction, with good procedural success and long‐term outcomes. It can provide symptomatic relief in such patients and may reduce the risk of sudden death in younger patients, without the inherent risks associated with surgical repair.