17.7: Coronary Circulation

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Rosanna Hartline
West Hills College Lemoore

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Coronary Circulation

Coronary arteries supply the myocardium with the nutrients and oxygen the tissue needs to survive and continue functioning. Some of the oxygen-rich blood in the aorta enters the right coronary artery and the left coronary artery. The

Above: Simplified diagram of the circulation through the coronary blood vessels serving the myocardium.

right coronary artery then splits into two main branches: the right marginal artery and the posterior interventricular artery. The left coronary artery also splits into two main branches: anterior interventricular artery and the left marginal artery. After oxygen and nutrient transfer occurs in the capillaries serving the myocardium, deoxygenated blood is pooled into the coronary sinus, an enlarged blood vessel that transfers blood into the right atrium of the heart. A series of coronary veins carry blood to the coronary sinus (including the small cardiac vein, middle cardiac vein, great cardiac vein, and left marginal vein).

Anterior heart showing the coronary arteries and veins

Above: Anterior coronary vessels (left) diagram and (right) cadaver image.

Posterior view of the heart showing the coronary arteries and veins

Above: Posterior coronary vessels (left) diagram and (right) cadaver image.

Attributions

"Anatomy 204L: Laboratory Manual (Second Edition)" by Ethan Snow, University of North Dakota is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
"Heart Anatomy" by Dongho Kim is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
"Medical gallery of Blausen Medical 2014" by Blausen.com staff is licensed under CC BY 3.0