Coronary artery fistula to the right ventricle in a patient with systemic athersclerosis

Atherosclerosis is a systemic disease that affects a number of vascular beds. Clinical manifestations whether acute or chronic (acute myocardial infarction, stable angina, intermittent claudication, cerebrovascular disease, among others) start after long periods of progression; so it may present subclinically in patients with coronary artery disease. What is particularly interesting about this form of presentation is that within a series of cases with multivessel disease, associated with an ankle-brachial index (ABI)<0.9, after an acute coronary syndrome, we have identified, as an angiographic finding, the presence of a coronary artery fistula to the right ventricle in a patient with very low ABI and clinical intermittent claudication. This fistula led to the symptoms that hampered cardiovascular rehabilitation. It is an infrequent disease characterized by chest pain; with low reporting (0.3 to 0.8%), as an incidental finding in coronary angiographies.