A myocardial bridge is a congenital anomaly seen in some patients.
Normally the main coronary arteries are epicardial, running outside of the myocardium. A myocardial bridge occurs when a segment of a main coronary artery runs within the myocardium for a portion of its length. The myocardium between the artery and the epicardium can be viewed as a "bridge" in this situation.
It most often involves the left anterior descending artery.
The anomaly may be identified on imaging studies of the heart.
Associations may include:
(1) coronary artery spasmand/or systolic compression, with chest pain
(2) atherosclerosis in the segment and myocardial infarction
(3) sudden death, especially in athletes
(4) cardiac arrhythmias (possibly causative of #3)
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