Myocardial Bridging: Diagnosis, Functional Assessment, and Management

Myocardial bridging (MB) is a congenital coronary anomaly in which a segment of the epicardial coronary artery traverses through the myocardium for a portion of its length. The muscle overlying the artery is termed a myocardial bridge, and the intramyocardial segment is referred to as a tunneled artery. MB can occur in any coronary artery, although is most commonly seen in the left anterior descending artery. Although traditionally considered benign in nature, increasing attention is being given to specific subsets of MB associated with ischemic symptomatology. The advent of contemporary functional and anatomic imaging modalities, both invasive and noninvasive, have dramatically improved our understanding of dynamic pathophysiology associated with MBs. This review provides a contemporary overview of epidemiology, pathobiology, diagnosis, functional assessment, and management of MBs.