Anomalous aortic origin of coronary arteries: Early results on clinical management from an international multicenter study

BACKGROUND: Anomalous aortic origin of coronary arteries (AAOCA) is a rare abnormality, whose optimal management is still undefined. We describe early outcomes in patients treated with different management strategies. METHODS: This is a retrospective clinical multicenter study including patients with AAOCA, undergoing or not surgical treatment. Patients with isolated high coronary take off and associated major congenital heart disease were excluded. Preoperative, intraoperative, anatomical and postoperative data were retrieved from a common database. RESULTS: Among 217 patients, 156 underwent Surgical repair (median age 39 years, IQR: 15-53), while 61 were Medical (median age 15 years, IQR: 8-52), in whom AAOCA was incidentally diagnosed during screening or clinical evaluations. Surgical patients were more often symptomatic when compared to medical ones (87.2% vs 44.3%, p