CORRESPONDENCE: LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Reply
Benjamin J.W. Chow, MD*,
Paul J. Galiwango, MD,
Angeline Law, MD and
Nisha D'Mello, MD
* University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Division of Cardiology, 40 Ruskin Street, Room 1220A, Ottawa, Ontario K1Y 4W7, Canada (Email: bchow{at}ottawaheart.ca).
We thank Dr. Symanski for his interest in our article describing a rare coronary anomaly (1). We are grateful that he brings to our attention the post-mortem results of Pete Maravich's heart (2). We agree that this anomaly, unbeknownst to us, has been previously described.
It was interesting to read the post-mortem examination that described a dilated heart weighing 650 g and having a left ventricular wall thickness of 15 mm. Equally interesting were the findings of myocardial fibrosis consistent with chronic ischemia. Dr. Symanski questions whether a similar pathophysiology may be contributing to our patient's chest pain.
At follow-up, our patient's atypical chest pain had completely resolved. On further review, our patient also had normal left ventricular volumes, mass, and ejection fraction. Cocker et al. (3) recently described the finding of myocardial fibrosis in elite athletes using magnetic resonance imaging. We wonder whether Pete Maravich's history as an elite athlete in combination with this rare coronary anomaly partially explains his post-mortem findings.
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References
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1. Galiwango PJ, Law A, D'Mello N, Chow BJ. The coronary collier: a new coronary artery anomaly J Am Coll Cardiol 2009;54:1035.[Free Full Text]2. Choi JH, Kornblum RN. Pete Maravich's incredible heart J Forensic Sci 1990;35:981-986.[Web of Science][Medline] 3. Cocker MS, Strohm O, Smith DJ, et al. Increased incidence of myocardial fibrosis with reduced cardiac function in elite high endurance athletes: a cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) study Circulation 2008;118:S840.[CrossRef]
Related Article
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The Coronary Collier
- John D. Symanski
J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 2010 56: 318-319.
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