An incidental encounter of a rare high take-off right coronary artery

RATIONALE High take-off of the coronary arteries is a rare cardiac anatomic anomaly, which may occur independently or with other congenital heart defects. In the clinical setting, it is noteworthy as a cause of sudden cardiac death. Further, it is vital to identify such anomalies to avoid intraoperative catastrophes in surgeries for congenital heart defects. PATIENT CONCERNS A II/6 systolic heart murmur on physical examination was incidentally found in a 9-year-old boy; he was confirmed to have a secundum-type atrial septal defect on echocardiography. He was referred to our institution for elective surgery. DIAGNOSES The preoperative echocardiogram confirmed the presence of an atrial septal defect, and during the surgical procedure, a high take-off right coronary artery was found. INTERVENTIONS The atrial septal defect was closed surgically, and care was taken to avoid clamping the anomalous right coronary artery when placing the aortic cross-clamp. OUTCOMES Postoperative echocardiogram verified the presence of the high take-off right coronary artery and a satisfactory repair of the atrial septal defect. The postoperative course was uneventful, and the patient was discharged on postoperative day 5. LESSONS This case suggests that it is critical to perform echocardiography to assess the anatomy of the coronary arteries, especially in pediatric cardiac patients. In addition, multi-detector computed tomography may be considered if appropriate. Care should be taken to assess the coronary anatomy for anomalies during interventional therapy or surgery, especially in congenital cases.