Microcatheter angiography and intravascular ultrasound can be useful in distinguishing intercoronary communication from obstructive coronary artery disease with collateral flow.
May aid differentiation of intercoronary communication from obstruction; leaves open broader adoption pending larger studies.
Intercoronary communication is a condition in which there is an open-ended circulation with bidirectional blood flow. It is distinguished from the collateral flow by its distinct angiographic features. However, a communicating vessel can be misinterpreted as a functioning collateral vessel indicative of unrecognized severe proximal coronary artery obstruction. A 69-year-old male presented with intermittent complete atrioventricular block. Coronary angiography was performed to rule out ischemia. Standard angiography revealed what was suspected to be coronary artery obstruction; however, intravascular ultrasound did not show any stenotic lesions. Microcatheter angiography successfully diagnosed this to be a case of intercoronary communication. Here we report our case along with some background regarding of intercoronary communication.
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Shakya et al. (2014) studied this question.
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