SEVERE CORONARY-ARTERY STENOSIS BY A BRONCHOGENIC CYST

A 32-year-old woman without preceding illness or significant cardiovascular risk factors was admitted to hospital because of a syncope after physical exertion. Transoesophageal echocardiography, performed to exclude aortic dissection, showed as an incidental finding a cystic space-occupying mass, 5 x 6 cm in diameter, dorsal to the aortic root and main pulmonary artery. Exercise ECG had S-T segment depressions of about 0.3 mV, associated with anginal symptoms, so that inadequate coronary artery flow on exertion was suspected. Subsequent coronary angiography demonstrated a funnel-shaped 80% stenosis at the origin of the main left coronary artery, while all other coronary arteries were normal and smooth-walled. A causal connection between the two findings was assumed and quickly undertaken surgical intervention revealed an intrapericardial bronchogenic cyst which, presumably as a result of its size and location, had pressed on the main stem of the left coronary artery and caused the stenosis of its ostium. The cyst was completely resected and angioplasty of the coronary artery ostium was performed to ensure its patency. 3 months postoperatively the patient underwent an exercise test of up to 125 Watt without signs of ischaemia. - This case presents a previously unreported complication of a bronchogenic cyst.