Coronary artery ectasia prevalence and clinical characteristics: experience from a single medical center

Background. Coronary artery ectasia is defined as a segment of coronary artery that is 1.5 times more dilated in diameter than the nearby segments. Its clinical presentations are unstable angina, coronary vasospasm, and acute myocardial infarction. Objective. To determine the clinical characteristics, presentation, outcomes and treatment in patients with documented coronary artery ectasia in a single Medical Hospital Center at Mexico City. Material and methods. A retrospective study was conducted using the clinical records of all patients that underwent coronarography and were diagnosed with coronary artery ectasia, ACS or acute myocardial infarction attending the coronary unit at Medica Sur Medical Center in Mexico City between January 2009 and December 2010. Results. During the two-year period, 283 patients were diagnosed with ST elevation myocardial infarction or UA/non-STEMI. Of these, 118 underwent coronariography and 13 patients were diagnosed with coronary artery ectasia, i.e., an incidence of 4.59%, of which 11 were male. Most of the patients were symptomatic at the time of diagnosis (92.3%). The ST elevation myocardial infarction localizations of patients were inferior (71.43%), anteroseptal (14.29%), and posterior inferior (14.29%). Conclusions. The incidence of coronary artery ectasia was similar to that reported in the international literature, and the main mode of coronary artery ectasia presentation was ST elevation myocardial infarction.