BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Vitamin D is generally known to be closely related to inflammation. The effects of vitamin D on coronary artery disease (CAD) are not fully explained. Nowadays, coronary artery ectasia (CAE) cases are common and are regarded as being a kind of CAD. We aimed to investigate, in a case-control study, the relationship between vitamin D and CAE without an associated inflammatory process. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: This study population included 201 patients (CAE group, 121 males; mean age, 61.2±6.4 years) with isolated CAE; and 197 healthy individuals (control group, 119 males; mean age, 62.4±5.8 years), comprising the control group, who had normal coronary arteries. These participants concurrently underwent routine biochemical tests, tests for inflammatory markers, and tests for 25-OH vitamin D in whole-blood draws. These parameters were compared. RESULTS: There are no statistical significance differences among the groups for basic clinical characteristics (p>0.05). Inflammatory markers were recorded and compared to exclude any inflammatory process. All of them were similar, and no statistical significance difference was found. The average parathyroid hormone (PTH) level of patients was higher than the average PTH level in controls (41.8±15.1 pg/mL vs. 19.1±5.81 pg/mL; p<0.001). Also, the average 25-OH vitamin D level of patients was lower than the average 25-OH vitamin D level of controls (14.5±6.3 ng/mL vs. 24.6±9.3 ng/mL; p<0.001). In receiver operating characteristic curve analysis, the observed cut-off value for vitamin D between the control group and patients was 10.8 and 85.6% sensitivity and 75.2% specificity (area under the curve: 0.854, 95% confidence interval: 0.678-0.863). CONCLUSION: We found that there is an association between vitamin D and CAE in patients who had no inflammatory processes. Our study may provide evidence for the role of vitamin D as a non-inflammatory factor in the pathophysiology of CAE.
C-Reactive Protein* ; Case-Control Studies ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Vessels* ; Dilatation, Pathologic* ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Male ; Parathyroid Hormone ; ROC Curve ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Vitamin D Deficiency ; Vitamin D* ; Vitamins*

Anomalous origin of coronary arteries is generally asymptomatic and a rare disease. However, some cases can cause severe life-threatening events such as myocardial ischemia, arrhythmia, and acute myocardial infarction. We describe a case of a single coronary artery arising from the right sinus of Valsalva in a 48-year-old female patient with a complaint of stable angina pectoris and palpitations. Coronary angiography revealed that all three coronary arteries arose from the right sinus. Coronary CT angiography confirmed that there was an anomalous origin of the left coronary artery arising from the right sinus of Valsalva. The patient was managed with conservative treatment.
Angina, Stable ; Angiography ; Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Coronary Angiography ; Coronary Vessel Anomalies ; Coronary Vessels* ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction ; Myocardial Ischemia ; Rare Diseases ; Sinus of Valsalva*

Celiac disease (CD) is an immune-mediated enteropathy involving the small intestines. Genetic and environmental risk factors as well as autoimmunity have been linked to its etiology. Studies have shown that coronary artery disease, autoimmune myocarditis, arrhythmias and premature atherosclerosis are more prevalent in individuals with CD compared to individuals without the disease. In this case report a young male patient with CD presented with acute myocardial infarction with spontaneous coronary artery dissections of two vessels. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case report of spontaneous multi-vessel coronary artery dissection in a patient with CD.
Arrhythmias, Cardiac ; Atherosclerosis ; Autoimmunity ; Celiac Disease* ; Coronary Artery Disease ; Coronary Vessels* ; Homocysteine ; Humans ; Intestine, Small ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; Myocarditis ; Risk Factors