Coronary Circulation Homestudy

The Crux of the Heart

junction of the posterior interventricular groove with the posterior part of the atrioventricular groove (pretty much where the PDA breaks off the RCA)

Right Marginal Artery aka

"acute" marginal artery (makes an acute angle when you look at it's trajectory from the coronary sulcus)

Cardiac Veins list

-Coronary Sinus -Great Cardiac Vein -Middle Cardiac Vein -Small Cardiac Vein

Which three veins feed directly into the Coronary Sinus?

-Great Cardiac Vein -Middle Cardiac Vein -Small Cardiac Vein

Coronary Dominance types

-Left Coronary Dominance (7% of all people) -Right Coronary Dominance (60-80%) -Co-Dominant Heart (very rare)

Arteries on the left side of the heart in order

-Left Main Coronary Artery -LAD -Left Circumflex

list of coronary arteries on the right side of the heart in order

-RCA -SA nodal artery -Right Marginal Artery -PDA

list of coronary arteries

-RCA -SA nodal artery -Right marginal artery -PDA -LCA -LCx -Left marginal artery -LAD

Regulation of blood in coronary circulation (minor role):

-Sympathetic NE (vasodilation) -Parassympathetic (Acetycholine)--vasoconstrictor

Small Cardiac vein

-Vein that travels along side the right marginal artery and on the right side of the coronary sulcus -drains right margin of the heart

Right Coronary Artery

-arises from the aorta just above the right cusp -travels along the coronary sulcus (AV groove) and along the back

Left Marginal Artery

-breaks off from Circumflex -"obtuse" marginal artery

Left Circumflex Coronary Artery

-breaks off from left main -curved, bends around the back of the heart along the backside of the heart along the left side of the coronary sulcus

Middle Cardiac Vein

-courses up the middle of the posterior side of the interventricular septum -drains into coronary sinus from there

What happens when a coronary artery becomes blocked? (different names; 5)

-ischemic damage -MI -"Coronary" -Heart Attack -Cardiac Arrest

Regulation of blood in the coronary circulation is primarily controlled by:

-local metabolites (hypoxia, adenosine)--these are vasodilators -

Great Cardiac Vein Takeaway:

-parallels LAD -drains same cardiac territory supplied by the LCA

types of coronary circulation

-pulmonary circulation -systemic circulation -coronary circulation

Great Cardiac Vein

-runs alongside the anterior interventricular artery -runs up anterior surface of IV septum, courses around the left cornary sulcus in the front into the left coronary sulcus in the back and dumps into the Coronary Sinus

AV nodal artery

-supplies AV node with blood -breaks off the RCA at the Crux of the Heart -pretty small

Left Anterior Descending Coronary artery

-supplies anterior 2/3 of the interventricular septum, most of the anterior wall of the left ventricle and part of inferior wall of the left ventricle -descends on the front of the heart

coronary arteries job

-supply myocardium and epicardium with blood

Left Main Coronary Artery

-very short (5 mm long), then bifurcates into LAD and Circumflex -branches off just above the left cusp of the aorta

LAD aka

Anterior Interventricular Artery

coronary circulation path

LV and Aorta --> LCA and RCA --> Myocardium --> Coronary Veins --> CS --> RA

LCx

Left circumflex artery

Co-Dominant Heart

PDA branches off both the RCA and the LCA

Left Coronary Dominance

PDA branches off the LCA

Right Coronary Dominance

PDA branches off the RCA

PDA aka

Posterior Interventricular Artery

RCA

Right Coronary Artery

Are coronary arteries end arteries?

Yes.

L. Cross

another name for the Crux of the Heart

SA nodal artery

branches off the RCA and curves upward to the top of the heart and then goes deep into the tissue supplies SA node with O2

Right Marginal Artery

breaks off the RCA and courses alongside the marginal side of the right ventricle

Middle and Small Cardiac Veins takehome message:

drains same cardiac territory supplied by the RCA

systemic circulation

heart to body to heart (goes through brachiocephalic artery off the aortic arch)

coronary circulation

heart to heart back to heart by way of coronary arteries and veins

pulmonary circulation

heart to lungs to heart

LAD

left anterior descending (coronary artery)

PDA

posterior descending artery

end arteries

supply myocardium without sufficient overlap/anastomoses **this means it has enough to survive, but not extra

Posterior Descending Artery

very last major branch off the coronary artery -travels down the back side (posterior) of the heart