Morphometry of the coronary artery and heart microcirculation in infants

Abstract

Knowledge of morphometric quantities of coronary arteries in infants is an increasingly vital component in managing congenital and acquired heart disease. Because of considerable heterogeneity of coronary vasculature, what is considered atypical and aberrant or insignificant anatomy is often unclear. The purpose of our present study is to define normal infant anatomy. This was done by focusing on the segment analysis of coronary arteries in infants. Segment analysis was used to define an accurate definition of the length and diameter of the coronary network. The lengths, widths, and numbers of collateral branches of the coronary arteries were measured. The coronary vessels of 40 infant hearts were visualised postmortem by injection of the coronary arteries with X-ray opaque dye for the imaging study. Also, black ink cast and silver impregnation specimens were studied. The longest segment of the circumflex branches of left coronary arteries was the second; the lengths were 9066.6 ± ± 1828 μm. The length of I, III, and IV were 7366 ± 378.7 μm, 7536.6 ± ± 1533.8 μm, 4476.6 ± 690.9 μm, respectively. The lengths of the circumflex branch of the coronary artery were longer than that of the others; it is joined with the anterior interventricular branch of the coronary artery in the dorsal wall of the left ventricle. Rates of branching and ramification were low, and the number of lateral branches was low.