The myocardial bridges of the coronary arteries

Anomalies of the coronary arteries belong to factors that increase the
risk of myocardial infarction and sudden cardiac death in patients
from young and middle age groups. Such a case, when the artery goes
through the intramural myocardium under the muscle fibers is often
called the myocardial bridge. Internationally recognized standard for
diagnosing the myocardial bridge is coronary angiography.

Objective
The aim of this research is to study the structural and functional
state of the coronary arteries in patients with myocardial bridges.

Materials and methods
This retrospective study was carried out in the "1st
Municipal Clinical Hospital" (Minsk, Belarus). The analysis covers the
time period between January 2011 and May 2015 (about 4.5 years). The
data, collected from protocols of percutaneous interventions performed
in catheterization laboratory, was subjected to primary statistical
processing.

Results
During the period from January 2011 to May 2015, 55 cases of
myocardial bridges were detected in the cath lab of the "1st Municipal
Clinical Hospital". Among them: 38 men and 17 women. Patients’ age
varied from 32 to 85 years. During the systole phase the compression
ratio varied from minor stenosis to 100%. Most often (29% of cases),
the vessel’s lumen was overlapped by 50%. The myocardial bridge
crossed the left anterior descending artery in 48 patients (87.3%).
All the data obtained are comparable with the information in
the world literature.