myocardial bridging


myocardial bridging

passage of an epicardial coronary artery beneath a band of cardiac muscle.

myocardial bridging

The presence of strands of myocardial fibres overlying the coronary arteries which, if long and deep enough, may cause asystole, myocardial ischaemia, necrosis or sudden death.
Because small bridges are seen in 27% of autopsies, and these may represent a normal anatomic variant of coronary arterial trajectories, current thought is that the muscle bridge must be at least 20 mm in length and 5 mm in depth to be significant and capable of compressing a coronary artery.

myocardial bridging

Coronary bridge, intramural coronary artery, intramyocardial tunneling, mural coronary artery, myocardial squeezing, myocardial tunneling Cardiology An anomaly in which a major coronary artery–CA leaves the epicardium, follows an intramyocardial course and subsequently returns to the surface; the CA is thus 'bridged' by a band of overlying myocardium; seen in 27% of autopsies, MB is a normal anatomic variant of the CAs; however, constriction of a bridged CA occurs in asystole and may cause myocardial ischemia or sudden death.