Surgery for Congenital Coronary Artery Arteriovenous Fistulae

Abstract
Reports concerning the occurrence of anomalous coronary arteries entering directly into the venous system, such as the right ventricle, right atrium, coronary sinus, or pulmonary artery, are rare. The surgical correction in one patient with an anomalous left coronary artery entering the right ventricle was successfully accomplished in June, 1953, and reported by our group.1 Three other cases are known to us that were successfully corrected surgically.1,3,10,11 This unusual anomaly has been found during exploration for an intrathoracic arteriovenous fistula, but no attempt to repair the lesion has been documented, other than those referred to above. In two of our four cases the condition was correctly diagnosed prior to surgery. The details of the diagnostic procedures will be reported by Dr. Benjamin M. Gasul and associates in another communication. In the first patient, an 18-year-old girl, the condition was diagnosed as a patent ductus arteriosus. In the second