CORONARY ARTERY ECTASIA WITH ANNULOAORTIC ECTASIA

A 50-year-old Japanese woman with annuloaortic ectasia was found to have total coronary artery ectasia without evident atherosclerosis. The coronary ectasia may have been secondary to or of similar etiology to the annuloaortic ectasia. There was neither stigmata of Marfan's syndrome nor any sign of dissection of the ascending aorta or coronary arteries. Furthermore, the patient was not elderly, and had no hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, or history of smoking. There was a marked blood pressure difference between the arms, and linear calcification was present in the aortic wall. A stenotic lesion was present in the right mid-subclavian artery. Although it is impossible to rule out atherosclerosis as the etiology of these findings, the possibility that they may be a manifestation of Takayasu's arterits is discussed.