Abstract

BALLESTEROS, Luis E; RAMIREZ, Luis M  and  FORERO, Pedro L. Study of the coronary sinus and its tributaries in colombian subjects. Rev. Colom. Cardiol. [online]. 2010, vol.17, n.1, pp.9-15. ISSN 0120-5633.

The morphological expression of the coronary sinus is characterized by its great variability, especially with regard to length, caliber, drainage territories and frequency of its tributaries. We assessed the variants in the coronary sinus of 68 fresh hearts from Colombian subjects (56 men, 12 women), from autopsy material. The sinuses were injected with synthetic resin and its anatomic characteristics were recorded. The average length of the coronary sinuses was 25.96 mm (± 6.34) with a distal diameter of 8.94 mm (± 1.66). The shapes were cylindrical, funnel-shaped and flattened in 67.6%, 23.5% and 8.9% respectively. The great cardiac vein originated from the cardiac apex in 57.4% of cases and in the lower third of the anterior interventricular sulcus in 39.7%. At the atrioventricular groove level, it had a caliber of 5.47 mm (± 0.72). In 77.9%, the great cardiac vein was located to the left of the anterior interventricular artery. The arterio-venous trigone of the heart was present in 58.8%. The middle cardiac vein had its origin in the lower third of the anterior ventricular surface (53%) and the cardiac apex (47%). This drained directly into the right atrium in 17% of cases. Its caliber in the segment close to the sinus was 4 mm (± 0.77). Anastomosis of the great and middle cardiac veins was present in 58.8%;33.8% in the heart apex and in the anterior interventricular sulcus. In a significant number of cases, the presence of a short great cardiac vein and an elongated middle cardiac vein was highlighted. Similarly, the drainage of the middle cardiac vein into the right atrium was present in almost one fifth of the hearts studied.

Keywords : coronary sinus; great cardiac vein; middle cardiac vein; arterio-venous trigone of the heart.

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