Coronary artery anomalies (CAAs) are a rare entity but their true incidence in the general population has yet to be determined. Most CAAs are asymptomatic, but they are nevertheless the second leading cause of sudden death in apparently healthy young athletes. The new imaging methods available to cardiologists, including CT angiography and MRI, now enable noninvasive diagnosis and characterization of these anomalies. The authors review the literature and present a retrospective study of 360 consecutive patients who underwent cardiac CT angiography. Demographic, clinical and angiographic characteristics were studied. The incidence of CAAs in this population was 2.69%. In order to better characterize this disorder, including diagnostic strategy, screening, treatment and prognosis, the authors suggest the establishment of a national registry of cardiac CT angiography. Such a registry would fill the existing gap in information on exams performed in the country, enriching current knowledge about this disease and noninvasive cardiac imaging in Portugal.

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Coronary arteries establish a complex blood vessel system, right and left coronary arteries commonly originate from the aortic sinuses and divide into multiple branches that supply the heart with several important variations between species. Diaphanization is a preservative technique which allows internal structures visualization, maintaining the three-dimensionality of the specimen. In this study, human (Homo sapiens), goat (Capra aegagrus hircus), bovine (Bos Taurus), equine (Equus caballus), porcine (Sus scrofa domesticus), canine (Canis lupus familiaris) and feline (Felis silvestris catus) coronary arteries were injected with selfcuring methyl-methacrylate and posteriorly diaphanized. The coronary vasculature was adequately observed in all models while keeping the three-dimensional relation with surrounding cardiac structures, except for septal arteries which were not visualized. As incidental findings, anatomical variations in canine and human hearts were observed. Repletion-diaphanization is a useful blended method to visualize the morphology of superficial coronary arteries. It could be a valuable tool in anatomical teaching and research, but further research needs to be done to prove its effectiveness in different vessel systems.

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