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Absence of Left Coronary Artery in a Cadaveric Heart
Author(s) -
Khan Makhdoom,
Matz Donald G
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.4.a445-a
Subject(s) - medicine , right coronary artery , artery , cardiology , coronary arteries , circumflex , left coronary artery , cadaveric spasm , anatomy , myocardial infarction , coronary angiography
The left coronary artery (LCA) normally originates from the left sinus of Valsalva. It is about ½ inch long and terminates by providing the left anterior descending (LAD) and circumflex (CX) arteries. The CX artery courses to the posterior surface of the heart where it terminates by anastomosing with the terminal part of the right coronary artery (RCA). In the present study we examined 104 cadaveric hearts and found one instance where the left coronary artery was missing. Its branches, the LAD and CX arteries were present but had separate origins at the sinus of Valsalva. The LAD appeared normal, however, the CX artery was abnormally large. It gave rise to the left marginal artery and terminated in the posterior interventricular sulcus as the posterior interventricular artery. The RCA after providing the right marginal artery, terminated at the right border of the heart and did not give rise to the posterior interventricular artery. Variations of coronary arteries are of great importance to surgeons involved in bypass and valve replacement surgeries. It has been reported that the LCA is the dominant artery in about 15% of the hearts. The incidence of separate origins of LAD and CX arteries is, however, very infrequent (0.09%).