Forensic Science International 2007-12-20

Aplastic right coronary artery and left coronary artery with a separate origin of the circumflex branch in a 31-year-old woman.

Annette Thierauf, Reinhard Dettmeyer, Heike Wollersen, Burkhard Madea

Index: Forensic Sci. Int. 173(2-3) , 178-81, (2007)

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Abstract

Singular coronary arteries are a rare feature appearing in approximately 0.05% of the population. The clinical relevance of those anomalies varies a lot. The wide range of descriptions reaches from asymptomatic cases to sudden cardiac death. This will be discussed in a case report concerning a 31-year-old woman who was found dead in her apartment. Due to drugs that were found next to her, a suicide was assumed. The autopsy yielded an aplastic right coronary artery and a left coronary artery with an anomalous origin of the circumflex branch as well as a myocardial scar. The autopsy findings and the results of the toxicological examinations are presented and discussed in view of the cause of death.