Vol 29, No 6 (2022)
Image in Cardiovascular Medicine
Published online: 2022-12-13

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Coronary artery embolism as a silent killer due to asymptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

Tetsuya Nomura1, Issei Ota1, Kenshi Ono1, Yu Sakaue1, Keisuke Shoji1, Naotoshi Wada1, Natsuya Keira1, Tetsuya Tatsumi1
Pubmed: 36541349
Cardiol J 2022;29(6):1045-1046.

Abstract

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clinicAL CARDIOLOGY

IMAGE IN CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE

Cardiology Journal

2022, Vol. 29, No. 6, 1045–1046

DOI: 10.5603/CJ.2022.0111

Copyright © 2022 Via Medica

ISSN 1897–5593

eISSN 1898–018X

Coronary artery embolism as a silent killer due to asymptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation

Tetsuya NomuraIssei OtaKenshi OnoYu SakaueKeisuke ShojiNaotoshi WadaNatsuya KeiraTetsuya Tatsumi
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyoto Chubu Medical Center, Kyoto, Japan

Address for correspondence: Tetsuya Nomura, MD, Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyoto Chubu Medical Center, 25, Yagi-Ueno, Yagi-cho, Nantan City, Kyoto 629-0197, Japan, tel: +81(0771)42-2510, fax: +81(0771)42-2096, e-mail: t2ya821@yahoo.co.jp

Received: 7.08.2022 Accepted: 10.10.2022

This article is available in open access under Creative Common Attribution-Non-Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) license, allowing to download articles and share them with others as long as they credit the authors and the publisher, but without permission to change them in any way or use them commercially.

A previously healthy 48-year-old man presented to the emergency department with chest pain of sudden onset. Electrocardiography showed complete atrioventricular block and an elevated ST-segment in the inferior limb leads. Emergency coronary angiography showed occlusion of the right coronary artery (Fig. 1A). Thrombus aspiration followed by crushing thrombi by balloon dilation and recovered favorable blood flow (Fig. 1B). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and intravascular ultrasound demonstrated neither evidence of plaque rupture nor erosion at the culprit lesion (Fig. 1C). Asymptomatic paroxysmal atrial fibrillation was detected during the hospital stay and a huge thrombus was identified in the left atrial appendage (LAA) with transesophageal echocardiography (Fig. 1D). These findings indicate acute myocardial infarction (AMI) caused by highly likely thromboembolism from the LAA thrombus. Administration of a direct oral anticoagulant agent dissolved the LAA thrombus and no thromboembolic event has since been observed.

Figure 1. A. Coronary angiography showing an occlusion of the right coronary artery (RCA) (arrow); B. Absence of organized stenosis at the culprit lesion of RCA after recanalization; C. Optical coherence tomography and intravascular ultrasound showing neither evidence of plaque rupture nor erosion at the culprit lesion; D. Transesophageal echocardiography showing the presence of a huge thrombus in left atrial appendage.

Although many cases of coronary artery embolism (CE) have been reported, the present case was the first to demonstrate both a clear embolic source in LAA and an OCT finding indicating no atherosclerotic origin of the culprit lesion. CE is the underlying cause of 2.9% of cases of de novo AMI. Considering the poorer long-term outcomes of CE patients than non-CE patients, it must be recognized that they are a high-risk subpopulation of AMI patients. Atrial fibrillation is the most frequent cause of CE, and the recurrence of systemic thromboembolism is also noted in patients with atrial fibrillation. Therefore, CE patients must be appropriately diagnosed and optimize management to improve their prognoses.

Conflict of interest: None declared