Conus artery in coronary CT angiography

Abstract

Background: The conus artery is usually the first branch of the right coronary artery (RCA) and passes around the right ventricular outflow tract. Objectives: To examine whether it is possible to visualize the conus artery in multi-slice computed tomography (CT). Patients and Methods: In 79 consecutive patients (aged 56 ± 12.9 years; 13 women), 64-slice CT was performed due to a suspicion of coronary artery disease. The standard protocol for scanning with retrospective gating was used for all the patients. Results: It was possible to visualize the conus artery in coronary CT angiography in 64 (81%) patients. The course of the conus artery in the right ventricle was commonly in the outflow tract direction. The conus artery was visualized at a distance of 33.2 ± 16.3 mm. The average diameter of the conus artery was 2.3 ± 0.8 mm. The conus artery most frequently originated from the first segment of the right coronary artery (53%) and directly from the aorta (37.9%). In the rest of the cases, there was a common trunk for both vessels (CA/RCA). Conclusions: In most cases, the conus artery can be visualized in cardiac CT. A description of the conus artery should be a part of the standard clinical coronary CT angiography description.