A secret pathway of the sinus node artery.

Anatomic and postmortem angiographic findings of a previously unreported case of common origin of the left circumflex (LCX) and the sinus node (SN) arteries, from the left main (LM) coronary artery were demonstrated. Knowledge of this anatomical variation, although it does not give rise to symptoms, is essential for anatomist and mainly for the interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons for their procedures.

Histologic findings in left ventricle papillary muscle arteries from human hearts.

We describe original histologic findings of left ventricle papillary muscle (LVPM) arteries in people under 30 years of age. We examined 666 samples taken from the tip, mid-portion and base of papillary muscles in 56 males and 55 females, as well as several samples from the rest of the left ventricle. The number of smooth muscle cells (SMC) in the tunica media of the LVPM arteries led us to divide the samples examined into three groups: (i) group 1, 355 samples (53%) with a normal number of SMC and a normal lumen (the number of group 1 samples increased from the tip (21%) to the base (47%)); (ii) group 2, 252 samples (38%) with a mild to moderately increased number of SMC (the number of these samples decreased from the tip (44%) to the base (22%)); and (iii) group 3, 59 samples (9%) with abundant SMC that were more than twofold greater in size and number of normal arteries, in contrast with the other two groups.

Variations in the origin and course of the posterior interventricular artery in relation to the crux cordis and the posterior interventricular vein: an anatomical study.

Corrosion castings of 60 human hearts were used to demonstrate that the point of origin of the posterior interventricular artery (PIA), in relation to the crux cordis, is responsible for its subsequent course with respect to the posterior interventricular vein (PIV). In seven cases (12%), the PIA appeared as the continuation of the left circumflex, descending rightwards and on a deeper level of the PIV. In 53 cases (88%), the PIA arose from the right coronary artery (RCA) and 50 of these were selected to be classified into three groups, according to the PIAs origin and course.