Adult type anomalous left coronary artery arising from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA)

Anomalous Origin of the Left Coronary Artery from the Pulmonary Artery: A Review

“…ALCAPA heart defect accounts for 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent of all heart abnormalities [2,[4][5][7][8][10][11]. Infants have a very low chance of survival due to their vulnerability to congestive heart failure or myocardial ischemia.…”

“…ALCAPA is the most common cause of heart attack in infants where 90 percent die in their first year of life unless they undergo surgery [5][6][7][8][11][12]. Only 10 to 15 percent of infants who do have the corrective surgery live past their first birthday however, but surgery is the child's best chance at survival [4,[6][7][8]11]. Adults who have ALCAPA also need to have corrective surgery because it commonly leads to sudden death for 90 percent of them at an average age of 35 if left untreated [4,[6][7][8]11].…”

“…Only 10 to 15 percent of infants who do have the corrective surgery live past their first birthday however, but surgery is the child's best chance at survival [4,[6][7][8]11]. Adults who have ALCAPA also need to have corrective surgery because it commonly leads to sudden death for 90 percent of them at an average age of 35 if left untreated [4,[6][7][8]11]. Treatment is made possible with a higher level of success due to the availability of medical imaging such as chest x-rays, transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) utilizing color Doppler, coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA), and coronary angiography [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]16].…”

“…Adults who have ALCAPA also need to have corrective surgery because it commonly leads to sudden death for 90 percent of them at an average age of 35 if left untreated [4,[6][7][8]11]. Treatment is made possible with a higher level of success due to the availability of medical imaging such as chest x-rays, transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) utilizing color Doppler, coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA), and coronary angiography [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]16]. Without these modalities at the physician's disposal, the diagnosis and repair of ALCAPA would be non-existent.…”

“…Even though coronary heart disease is responsible for the majority of deaths associated with the heart, there are many other less prevalent, but just as deadly, heart conditions [1]. Anomalous origin of the left coronary artery from the pulmonary artery (ALCAPA) is a rare heart anomaly [2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]. ALCAPA is also known as Bland-White-Garland syndrome [2,3,8,10].…”