CORONARY ARTERIO-CAMERAL FISTULA BY

Communication between the coronary arteries and the cardiac chambers is a rare event. In the 22,500 post-mortems performed at the General Hospital, Singapore, over the past decade, there were some 520 cases of congenital heart disease. In this material there were three examples of this unusual anomaly, all occurring in infants of Chinese race. As about 30 cases of this anomaly have now been described, a more succinct descriptive phrase than "communication between coronary artery and cardiac chamber " seems desirable. To this end, the author suggests "coronary arterio-cameral fistula " (Latin: camera-a vault; hence cham-ber=an enclosed space in the body of an animal or plant (O.E.D.)). The term coronary arterio-venous aneurysm can thus be reserved for communications between the coronary artery and the coronary veins or sinus. CASE REPORT