Bicuspid aortic valves with different spatial orientations of the leaflets are distinct etiological entities.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to decide whether bicuspid aortic valves (BAVs) with fused right and noncoronary leaflets (R-N) and BAVs with fused right and left leaflets (R-L) have different etiologies or are the product of a single diathesis.

Background: The BAV is the most common congenital cardiac malformation. The R-N and R-L BAVs are the most frequent BAV subtypes.

Rudimentary coronary artery in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus).

Congenital underdevelopment of one or more main branches of the coronary arteries has been reported in man, but not in non-human mammals. In man, this defective coronary artery arrangement may cause myocardial ischaemia and even sudden death. The main goal of this study was to describe the coronary artery distribution patterns associated with the presence of a markedly underdeveloped (rudimentary) coronary artery in Syrian hamsters.

The coronary arteries of the C57BL/6 mouse strains: implications for comparison with mutant models.

There are few detailed descriptions of the coronary arterial patterns in the mouse. Some recent reports on coronary anomalies in mutant mouse models have uncovered the importance of several genes (i.e.

Number of coronary ostia in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus) with normal and anomalous coronary arteries.

Little attention is being paid to the presence of accessory coronary artery ostia in man and non-human mammals due to their limited clinical relevance. However, information about their frequency and the cardiac territories irrigated by the vessels arising from them is of interest to obtain an accurate survey of the establishment of the coronary artery system in each species. The aim here was to compare the incidence and significance of the accessory coronary ostia in Syrian hamsters with normal coronary arteries and several coronary anomalies characterized by the absence of a left coronary artery originating from the left aortic sinus.

Separate origin of the main components of the left coronary artery in Syrian hamsters (Mesocricetus auratus).

This study describes a rare congenital coronary artery anomaly in the Syrian hamster; namely, the separate origin of the obtuse marginal and left circumflex arteries which are the main components of the left coronary artery. The hearts of nine affected animals were examined by means of a corrosion-cast technique and histology. The hamsters belonged to a laboratory inbred family with a high incidence of coronary artery anomalies and bicuspid aortic valve.