الفهرس 
Coronary Artery EctasiaOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
C
oronary artery ectasia has been a well recognized angiographic finding for decades, characterized by abnormal dilatation of the coronary arteries. Patients with coronary artery ectasia typically present with angina, and are at risk for myocardial infarctions and sudden cardiac death due to slow flow, dissection, coronary vasospasm, and/or intracoronary thrombosis.
Coronary artery ectasia is often viewed as a variant of obstructive coronary atherosclerosis (Schoenhagen at al., 2001; Li Jian-jun et al., 2011), and is increasingly thought to be an inflammatory-relating disease (Kocaman et al., 2008). where inflammation results in exaggerated positive vascular remodeling, which is described as an expansion of the external elastic membrane that allows considerable plaque accumulation, without luminal loss (Li et al., 2009).
And based on the previou facts, the aim of our study was to evaluate the relationship between the inflammatory process and the development of coronary artery ectasia, using the red blood cell distribution width and serum uric acid levels as inflammatory biomarkers.
Sixty subjects undergoing coronary angiography for assessment of ischemic heart disease were retrospectively included in the study. They were divided into 2 groups. Group I the study group, Included 30 patients with angiographically proven isolated coronary artery ectasia.
Group II, the control group included 30 subjects who will be found to have normal epicardial coronary arteries.
Full medical history taking was performed with special emphasis on the presence of risk factors or family history of ischemic heart disease and the presence of one or more of the exclusion criteria. General and local clinical examination was performed, as well as a 12 lead ECG. Coronary angiography was done to detect & evaluate the presence & type of CAE.
Our study showed that the mean age of the study group was relatively young (51.5 ± 9.4). Also, male gender predominance was observed (93%). The prevalence of Diabetes Mellitus as a risk factor was relatively low (33%).
Our study also showed a strong statistical significance regarding the risk factor of smoking, being higher in the study group (p value = 0.02), which reflects its importance as a major risk factor for the development of CAE.
According to our study, we concluded that there was no significant correlation between the levels of red cell distribution width and serum uric acid, and the presence of coronary artery ectasia of any type.