Investigation and review of myocardial bridges in adult cadaver hearts and angiographs

Purpose We aimed to compare the myocardial bridges (MBs) both in the coronary angiography and cadavers. Methods Morphological (length, thickness, deepness, the angle between the long axis of vessel and location) and angiographic properties (length, degree of systolic obstruction, frequency) of the MBs were evaluated in 50 adult cadaver hearts and in 1,321 cineangiograms. Results Myocardial bridges were observed in 32 of the cadaver hearts (64%) and 100 of cineangiograms (7.57%). It was observed that MBs caused signiWcant coronary stenosis in 34 of 100 individuals leading to the prevalence of signiWcant MB to be (2.5%) in angiography. The MBs that are above the left anterior descending artery in cadaver were classiWed as superWcial MB (77.4%) and deep MB (22.6%). In cineangiogram, the average length of MB (MBL) was determined as 10.32 ± 4.62 mm. Conclusion The presence of MB, MBL and degree of luminal narrowing were not associated with the age and gender. Deepness and thickness were a major determinant of signiWcancy of systolic obstruction by MBs. © Springer-Verlag 2009.