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The coronary arteries arise from the aortic sinuses immediately distal (superior) to the aortic valve and supply the myocardium with oxygenated blood.
The typical configuration consists of two coronary arteries, a left main coronary artery (LMCA) and a right coronary artery (RCA),
Right main coronary (rca)
Right main coronary (rca)
The RCA The right coronary artery courses in the right atrioventricular groove to the inferior surface of the heart, whereupon it turns anteriorly at the crux as the posterior descending artery (PDA) in the right dominant circulation.
left main coronary (LMca)
left main coronary (LMca)
The left coronary artery has a short common stem (and is hence often referred to as the left main coronary artery), that bifurcates into the left circumflex artery (LCx) and the left anterior descending artery (LAD),
left anterior descending (lad)
left anterior descending (lad)
The left anterior descending artery (LAD), which passes towards the apex in the anterior interventricular groove.
left circumflex (LCX)
left circumflex (LCX)
The left circumflex artery (LCx), which courses over the left atrioventricular groove (1)
what does this look like on an axial image?
what does this look like on an axial image?
See the axial diagram below showing the course and origin point of the RCA, LMCA, LAD and LCx on a normal heart (2)
Try find the main vessels on this case example from Radiopedia (3) Cranial --> --> --> Caudal
case examples
case examples
references
references
Phillip M. Young, Thomas C. Gerber, Eric E. Williamson, Paul R. Julsrud, and Robert J. Herfkens (2011) Cardiac Imaging: Part 2, Normal, Variant, and Anomalous Configurations of the Coronary Vasculature, American Journal of Roentgenology, Volume 197, Issue 4, https://doi.org/10.2214/AJR.10.7249
https://radiopaedia.org/cases/ct-coronary-angiogram-axial-labelling-questions
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