ifurcation, the division of an artery into 2 branches, is a ommon anatomy feature of the human coronary tree and is ecognized as a common site for atherosclerotic plaque buildup ue to the differences in coronary flow, turbulence, and shear tress at the site of the bifurcation. The prevalence of bifurcaion stenosis in the human coronary tree is reported to be etween 15% to 20% of all interventio...

BACKGROUND Conventional coronary angiography (CCA) has been considered as a gold standard for the diagnosis of coronary artery diseases; however, its diagnostic accuracy is still unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS Between July 2004 and December 2011, 97 patients underwent CCA within 15 days before heart transplantation in Fuwai hospital. A head-to-head comparison study was performed to examine the ...

Background It is generally acknowledged that the 17-segment AHA model provides a suitable approximation for mapping the results of X-ray angiography onto myocardial anatomy in a consistent way in the absence of a more exact method. In practice, coronary anatomy varies from patient to patient which is acknowledged as the main limitation of the AHA model. The aim of this study was to establish wh...

Computed tomography (CT) is capable of comprehensively assessing the heart in order to provide information on anatomy, function, perfusion and viability. CT coronary angiography can assess both the coronary artery lumen and the characteristics of atherosclerotic plaques. CT myocardial perfusion imaging can provide additional information compared to CT coronary angiography by highlighting areas ...

The best outcome for coronary intervention in coronary artery bypass graft patients requires knowledge of prior coronary anatomy. This information is not always available as many cases present acutely, especially in ST-elevation myocardial infarction. We present three cases in which bypass grafts were documented as occluded but follow-up angiograms for other reasons revealed that the grafts wer...

Congenital absence of left circumflex artery is a rare occurrence and very few cases have been reported in literature. It is a benign incidental finding; however some patients present with sudden onset chest pain mimicking acute coronary syndrome often resulting in detection of this rare anatomy on coronary angiography. Coronary computed tomography angiography is a relatively new noninvasive im...

With the introduction of new surgical procedures an the development of new techniques of cardiac imaging, the normal anatomy, variations and anomalies of coronary arteries have assumed new significance. The coronary arteries may present several variations, in terms of both number and position. The incidence of all coronary anomalies is 0.23% in autopsy series and ranges between 0.3% and 12% in ...

BACKGROUND Kawasaki disease (KD) is the most common cause of acquired coronary artery disease in childhood. In KD, the American Heart Association recommends echocardiography for routine coronary artery surveillance and nuclear perfusion scans and conventional coronary angiography in select patients. Cardiac MRI (CMRI) may be a noninvasive and radiation-free alternative. We applied CMRI during t...