Isolated anomalous right coronary artery from pulmonary artery (ARCAPA): incidental finding in the patient presenting...

Anomalous right coronary artery from pulmonary artery (ARCAPA) is one of four known anomalies of the coronary arteries originating from the pulmonary artery. ARCAPA is a rare congenital anomaly that is associated with possible long-term complications including myocardial ischemia and left ventricular dysfunction. Clinical presentation can vary from asymptomatic murmur to angina, dyspnea, fatigue, congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction and even cardiac arrest.

We present a case of a 52-year-old male who presented to the hospital for intermittent chest pain. The patient was vitally stable and examination was unremarkable. Upon workup, electrocardiogram (EKG) on admission showed no acute ischemic changes and troponin were <0.03 ng/mL. The patient was evaluated by cardiology and had a dobutamine stress echocardiogram (ECHO) for ischemic evaluation. During the recovery phase of dobutamine stress ECHO, the patient reported having 10/10 chest pain with a drop in blood pressure to 90 mmHg systolic. He was subsequently given sublingual nitroglycerin and fluids. Pain did resolve and blood pressure improved after treatment. No wall motion abnormalities were noted on ECHO, but there were inferior ST depressions on EKG during the stress portion of the test. The patient had repeated blood work after the stress test which showed an elevated troponin level of 0.08 ng/mL. The patient was taken to the catheterization lab for diagnostic coronary angiogram. Cardiac catheterization showed a right coronary artery (RCA) arising from the pulmonary artery and diagnosis of isolated ARCAPA was made because of his intermittent chest pain. No intervention was performed as no significant lesions were found. The patient was started on medical therapy including aspirin, beta blocker and statin. The patient did not want to pursue surgery at that point and he did not want any further intervention. He was discharged home with instructions to follow up with cardiology in an outpatient setting to be referred for surgical repair.

The purpose of writing this case is to increase awareness among physicians to be able to recognize possible anomalous coronary artery origins during cardiac catheterization and to understand the risk of long-term complications of ARCAPA and need for surgical repair.