ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Coronary artery anomalies (CAAs) are an infrequent incident in the general population. Although they are far less common than acquired heart disease, their implication is important since they are related with sudden death, especially in young individuals.1 By definition, CAAs are an anatomic variant with a rare occurrence (0.3-1.3%) in the general population,2-5
even though in a well-documented angiographic study 5.64% of the total population had CAAs.2
Indeed the exact proportion of the general population with this abnormality might be underestimated for the following reasons: (a) the majority of the anomalies have a benign course since they are discovered as incidental findings during diagnostic catheterization and moreover their course may be totally silent without any signs, symptoms, or complications; (b) data derived from necropsy studies are hampered by lack of diagnostic criteria, entry bias, and limited sample2 size.
