Background
Despite the fact that risk factors are systemic in nature, atherosclerosis and calcifications do not occur at random. Plaques are likely to occur at the outer sides of vessel bifurcation, the proximity of arterial branch points, and the inner curvatures. Those specific sites within the arterial tree are prone to develop complex disturbed blood flow patterns. The focal nature of plaque formation indicates that local mechanical and hemodynamic forces could be involved in the initiation and development of atherosclerosis.
Aim
The purpose of this study was to demonstrate the spatial distribution of coronary calcifications and plaques by coronary artery calcium score analysis and multi-slice computed tomography (MSCT) coronary angiography. We present a hypothesis that the predisposition for atherosclerosis localization at the proximal segment of the left anterior descending artery (LAD) can be linked to the intramural course of the septal branches (SB) and systolic blood flow reversal in the LAD segment adjacent to the SB take-off.
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