Coronary artery ectasia--a variant of occlusive coronary arteriosclerosis.

In a study of 1000 consecutive coronary arteriograms, 12 patients (all men) had coronary artery ectasia. Ectasia was found most frequently in the circumflex or right coronary artery. Only 1 patient had ectasia in the left anterior descending coronary artery. In 11 patients, ectasia of one artery was associated with severe stenosis or occlusion of other vessels, typical of arteriosclerosis. Histology from an ectatic segment in one of this group showed changes of severe arteriosclerosis with extensive intimal fibrosis and destruction of the media. One patient had a mixed collagen vascular disease. Measurement of coronary sinus flow in 2 patients with coronary artery ectasia showed flows in the range of patients with non-ectatic coronary artery disease. At cardiac surgery flows down the graft to ectatic arteries were in the same range as in grafts to non-ectatic vessels. Patients with coronary artery ectasia should be anticoagulated.