Exertional Dyspnea as the Main Symptom in an Adolescent Athlete With Coronary Artery Anomaly - A Case Report

Mahdi Sareban; Klaus Hergan; Peter Covi; Josef Niebauer

doi:10.3389/fcvm.2022.872608

Exertional Dyspnea as the Main Symptom in an Adolescent Athlete With Coronary Artery Anomaly - A Case Report

Front Cardiovasc Med. 2022 Apr 11:9:872608. doi: 10.3389/fcvm.2022.872608. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Mahdi Sareban¹, Klaus Hergan², Peter Covi³, Josef Niebauer¹

Affiliations

¹ University Institute of Sports Medicine, Prevention and Rehabilitation and Research Institute of Molecular Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, University Hospital Salzburg, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.
² University Institute of Radiology, University Hospital Salzburg, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.
³ Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital Salzburg, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria.

Abstract

Coronary artery anomalies (CAA) are associated with sudden cardiac death (SCD) and the majority of those events occur during exercise. Depending on the anatomic features and severity, CAA usually provoke clinical symptoms of coronary ischemia, mainly syncope and (exertional) chest pain. Here we present a case of a female adolescent athlete with a high-risk CAA variant and an unusual clinical presentation, which delayed diagnosis 2 years after first symptoms were reported. After successful surgical management of the anomalous artery, the patient was determined eligible for competitive sports with unremarkable follow-up examinations.

Keywords: arrhythmias; competitive sports; echocardiography; exercise testing; pre-participation examination; syncope; unroofing.

Publication types

Case Reports