BACKGROUND. Although the ethnicity is one of the independent predictors of coronary artery size, its normal value and relating factors have not been examined in Korean. METHODS AND RESULTS. One hundred and twenty seven arteriograms were carefully selected from among 3,412 consecutive studies for their smooth lumen borders indicating freedom from atherosclerotic disease. Of these, 53 women and 23 men, who had no abnormalities of cardiac function and not used nitrates, were studied. Lumen diameter was measured at mid point of left main coronary artery (LMCA) , and the most proximal segment of each epicardial coronary artery. Measurements were validated using standard quality control analysis software on the digital acquisition system of the cardiac catheter suite, and had a mean inter-observer error of 0.10 mm. Right-dominant cases were 52 (68.4%), balanced 18 (23.7%), and left 6 (7.9%). The anatomic dominance distribution was similar in both sex. For men, lumen diameter of proximal left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) was 3.9 ± 0.4 mm, left circumflex coronary artery (LCX) 3.5 ± 0.5 mm and they were not affected by anatomic dominance. For the LMCA, it varied between 4.4 ± 0.5 and 5.2 ± 0.3 mm (p<0.05) and for the right coronary artery (RCA), between 3.3 ± 0.6 and 4.1 ± 0.4 mm by anatomic dominance (p<0.05). For women, lumen diameters of LMCA, LAD, and LCX were 4.5 ± 0.7 , 3.6 ± 0.5 , and 3.3 ± 0.6 mm, respectively and not affected by anatomic dominance. For the RCA, it varied between 3.1 ± 0.4 and 3.7 ± 0.5 mm (p<0.01). The summed diameter of the most proximal segment of LAD, LCX, and RCA was significantly correlated to left ventricular (LV) mass (p<0.05) and women had smaller epicardial arterial diameter than men (-7%; p<0.01). But, by multivariate analysis, LV mass and body surface area (BSA) were both independent predictors of coronary artery size (p<0.05) and gender was not. CONCLUSIONS. This is a Korean reference normal data set against which to compare lumen dimensions in various pathological states. LV mass and BSA are independent predictors of coronary artery size and we suggest the relative coronary artery size should be considered in the clinical practice.
|
