A review of 15-year experience with anomalous origin of the left coronary artery.

BACKGROUND

Anomalous left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) is a rare condition presenting in infancy with acute myocardial ischaemia.

AIMS: A retrospective study was undertaken to assess the presenting features and long-term outcome of all cases of ALCAPA presenting to our institution over a 15-year period.

METHODS

All the cases were located using the hospital discharge system and charts were reviewed.

RESULTS

The mean age at diagnosis was 4.5 months (2 weeks to 16 months). The predominant presenting symptoms were irritability, pallor, and tachypnoea. The predominant electrocardiogram findings were Q waves and ST segment changes in the anterolateral chest leads. One died from the 11 patients in our series.

CONCLUSION

The outcome for surgical re-implantation in infants with a diagnosis of ALCAPA is very good however, early diagnosis is crucial to survival. Although once successfully repaired, patients in general were free of symptoms, ventricular dysfunction was usually present, requiring long-term follow-up.