The Coronary Arteries

• The coronary arteries pt1:

  • The commonest cardiac pathology in all populations globally is coronary artery disease; a disease process directly attributable to atherosclerosis
  • The coronary arteries supply essential nutrients and oxygen to the highly aerobic cardiac muscle fibres (cardiomyocytes)
  • Although at rest, ~ 5 – 6 litres of blood passes through the cardiac chambers per minute, very little of it actually nourishes the heart muscle
• The coronary arteries pt2:

  • this is because the cardiac muscle wall is so thick that diffusion is not an efficient option
  • So just like other tissues of the body the heart muscle must receive blood directly via its own specific blood supply – i.e. the coronary circulation
  • Healthy coronary arteries are therefore essential to normal cardiac function
  • Indeed, where coronary artery function is impaired there are significant and often dire consequences for cardiac muscle function
• In total there are two coronary arteries - the left and right coronary arteries, which arise from the root of the aorta and encircle the heart travelling in the atrio-ventricular groove