Clinical analysis of 69 cases of anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery in children / 中国小儿急救医学

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze the various clinical presentations of anomalous aortic origin of a coronary artery (AAOCA) and determine factors related to myocardial ischemia.Methods:Children diagnosed with AAOCA on CT coronary angiography at Beijing Children′s Hospital, Capital Medical University from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2022 were classified based on AAOCA type, age and high-risk anatomy.The clinical characteristics of the different AAOCA types and age groups were compared and the correlation between the severity of manifestations and high-risk anatomy was analyzed.Results:A total of 69 children with AAOCA[34 males and 35 females, aged (8.89±4.40) years] were included.Ten (14.5%) patients had anomalous origin of the left coronary artery (ALCA) from the right coronary artery sinus and 57 (82.6%) patients had anomalous origin of the right coronary artery (ARCA) from the left coronary artery sinus.In two (2.9%) patients, AAOCA did not arise from a coronary sinus.Nineteen (27.5%) patients were asymptomatic, including 35 (50.7%) cases presented with minor symptoms (chest tightness, chest pain, fatigue), 13 (18.8%) cases had severe symptoms (syncope), and two (2.9%) cases had atypical symptoms (paroxysmal crying). All children were successfully treated; no deaths were reported during follow-up.There were no significant differences in gender, clinical manifestations, positive myocardial injury markers, electrocardiogram and transthoracic echocardiography findings, and proportion of children with high-risk anatomy among the different AAOCA groups (ALCA, ARCA, and non-coronary sinus AAOCA). Divided by age, there were nine (13.1%) children in infant group, 11 (15.9%) in preschool group, and 49 (71.0%) in school age group.More infants were asymptomatic than preschoolers ( P<0.001). Forty-three (62.3%) patients had a high-risk anatomy: two patients with acute take-off angles, four patients with stenosis or slit-like orifices, and 37 patients with interarterial courses.The remaining patients (37.7%) had non-high-risk anatomies.Children with a high-risk anatomy had severe symptoms and were prone to cardiac syncope ( P<0.05). Logistic multivariate analysis suggested that high-risk anatomy was an independent risk factor for cardiogenic syncope( OR=9.026, 95% CI 1.071~76.084, P=0.043). Conclusion:There are no significant differences in the proportion of high-risk anatomy and clinical characteristics among children with different AAOCA types.Younger children are often misdiagnosed due to atypical or insignificant clinical symptoms.The severity of clinical symptoms is related to the high-risk anatomy.High-risk anatomy is an independent risk factor for cardiogenic syncope in children with AAOCA.