Common arterial trunk, uncommon coronary arterial anatomy

Macroscopic investigation was done in 44 postmortem specimens of hearts with common arterial trunk. In 38 hearts, the normal distribution in left and right coronary arteries was found. Of the coronary orifices, five were pinpoint and three showed a double orifice. The left coronary orifice was positioned in the posterior part of the truncus (p < 0.0001); the right coronary orifice was positioned in the right anterior and lateral part (p < 0.0001). In 19 hearts, coronary orifices were found above sinus level, left coronary orifices more often than right coronary orifices (p < 0.001). In seven hearts, type I truncus was found, in seven type II truncus was found, in 17 the truncus was intermediate between types I and II, in two type III truncus was found. In 11 hearts, the pulmonary artery distribution could no longer be identified. The truncal valve was bicuspid in 11 hearts, tricuspid in 25 hearts, and quadricuspid in eight hearts. The truncal valve showed overriding of 5% to 100%. Malformations of the coronary arteries were found in 28 hearts (64%). In 27 hearts (61%), the coronary arterial anatomy might have had clinical consequences. In nine hearts, coronary arterial orifices were at risk in excision of the pulmonary arteries from the common arterial trunk. The role of the neural crest as an etiologic factor of coronary arterial malformations in common arterial trunk should be taken into account.