The coronary sinus and its tributaries were studied by anatomical dissection in 37 adult human cadaveric hearts, which had been fixed in formalin solution. An anastomosis of approximately 1.0 mm in calibre was observed between the anterior and posterior interventricular veins in 19% of specimens. Myocardial bridges were detected above the anterior interventricular vein or its tributaries in 8% of specimens. The great cardiac vein formed the base of the arteriovenous trigone of Brocq and Mouchet with the bifurcating branches of the left coronary artery in 89% of specimens and formed an angle accompanying these arterial branches in 11%. In the trigone the anterior interventricular and great cardiac veins were superficial to the arteries in 73% of specimens. The left marginal vein was present in 97% of specimens, emptying into the great cardiac vein in 81% of cases and into the coronary sinus in the remaining 19%. The small cardiac vein was present in 54% of specimens. In the coronary sulcus the great cardiac vein was adjacent to the circumflex branch of the left coronary artery in 76% of specimens and to the right coronary artery in 5%: in 19% there was no relationship with either artery. The coronary sinus maintained a relationship with the right coronary artery in 46% of specimens and with the left coronary artery in 32%: in 22% it had no relationship with these vessels.

Ortale JR, Paganoti C de F, Marchiori GF. Anatomical variations in the human sinuatrial nodal artery. Clinics. 2006;61(6): 551-8. OBJECTIVE:To analyze the anatomical variations of sinuatrial nodal branch(es) of the coronary artery mainly regarding their number; a recent report from Japan claims the presence of 2 branches in up to 50% of cases, an occurrence that would permit adequate flow compensation in case of occlusion or section of 1 of these branches. METHODS:The sinuatrial nodal branch(es) of 50 human hearts fixed in formol solution were dissected with the aid of a Normo Health 3.0 degree visor magnifying lens, measured, and classified as to the origin, route, and number of branches. RESULTS: In 94% (n = 47) of cases, a single sinuatrial nodal branch was found. classified: (A) two right side types, R1 (in 46% of cases, n = 23), situated medial to the right auricle and R2 (in 4% of cases, n = 2), situated on the posterior surface of the right atrium; (B) three left side types, L1 (in 24% of cases, n = 12), situated medial to the left auricle, L2 (in 16% of cases, n = 8), situated posterior to the left auricle, and L3 (in 4% of cases, n = 2), situated on the posterior surface of the left atrium. Except for R2, each type was subdivided into 'a' or 'b' types, according to whether the sinuatrial nodal branch(es) occurred in a clockwise or counterclockwise orientation around the base of the superior cava vena. In 4% of cases (n = 2), 2 sinuatrial nodal branch(es) were observed with 1 branch originating from each of the coronary arteries. In 1 case (2%), 3 sinuatrial nodal branch(es) were found, 2 from the right coronary artery and the third probably from the bronchial branch of the thoracic aorta. In 30% of the cases, the sinuatrial nodal branch(es) formed a ring around the base of the superior cava vena. In all cases, the sinuatrial nodal branch(es) supplied collateral branches to the atrium and/or the auricle of the same side as its origin and/or to the opposite side. CONCLUSION: The low frequency of 2 sinuatrial nodal branch(es) in Brazilian individuals, compared to the higher frequency found among the Japanese, is probably due to a variation associated with ethnic group origin.

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Objective: The objective of the present report was to describe the lateral, diagonal and anterosuperior arterial branches in the epicardial adipose tissue of the left ventricle and to analyze their frequency and diameters according to the type of coronary circulation. The precious knowledge of these branches has surgical application in their revascularization or during the injection of the cardioplegic substances into these branches. Method: Fifty hearts obtained at autopsy from adult cadavers were dissected and fixed in formalin and the left ventricle was divided into three thirds: superior, middle and inferior. The lateral branch originated from the circumflex branch, the diagonal branch from the division of the left coronary artery and the anterosuperior branch from the anterior interventricular branch in the superior third of the left ventricle. The length in the epicardium and the diameter of each branch were measured and the blood flow was related to the type of coronary circulation. Results: The diameter of the lateral branch, present in 88% of the cases, ranged from 0.6 to 4.5 mm (mean: 2.1 ± ± ± ± ± 0.7 mm). The diameter of the diagonal branch, present in 50% of cases, ranged from 1.0 to 3.8 mm (mean: 2.2 ± ± ± ± ± 0.7 mm). The diameter of the anterosuperior branch, present in 84% of cases, ranged from 1.0 to 4.1 mm (mean: 2.5 ± ± ± ± ± 0.8 mm). We detected 30/50 (60%) cases of dominance of the right coronary artery, 14/50 (28%) cases of the balanced type, and 6/12 (12%) cases of dominance of the left coronary artery. Mean blood flow in the anterosuperior branch presented a decreasing value in the following types: dominance of the right coronary artery, balanced and dominance of the left coronary artery. Conversely, the lateral branch showed respectively increasing values, while the diagonal branch presented a greater flow in the balanced type. Conclusion: The results demonstrated the complementarity of the lateral, diagonal and anterosuperior arterial branches, as well as the correlation among these branches with the following types of coronary circulation: right dominance, balanced and left dominance.

The ramification of the portal vein in the right hemiliver was studied by anatomic dissection in 36 formalin-fixed human livers. In 28/36 (77.8%) cases, the portal vein bifurcated into a right branch and a left branch and the right branch bifurcated into anterior and posterior segmental branches. The anterior segmental branch terminated in the anterosuperior subsegment (S₈) in two types: bifurcated when it divided into anterior P₈ and posterior P₈ branches towards the respective regions of S₈ (24/28 cases) and monopodal when it had a single pedicle (4/28 cases). The maximum anteroinferior subsegmental branch (P₅ maximum) originated either from the anterior segmental branch (16/28 cases) or from the anterior P₈ branch (12/28 cases). The posterior segmental branch vascularized the posteroinferior (S₆) and the posterosuperior (S₇) subsegments, and was terminated in three types: fan-shaped (16/28), bifurcated (9/28) and tripodal (3/28). In 4/36 (11.1%) cases the portal vein bifurcated into a right branch and a left branch but the posterior segmental branch was not present. In 4/36 (11.1%) the right branch of the portal vein was not present. These anatomical variations are explained separately and finally all cases are considered as a whole.