Summary
The great cardiac vein is the longest venous vessel of the heart; in the majority of our cases it originated at the lower third of the anterior interventricular sulcus (58%). The great and the middle cardiac veins merge at the apex of the heart, forming together with the coronary sinus into which they both empty, a complete venous ring around the left ventricle (13%). On reaching the area of the coronary sulcus, the great cardiac vein crosses the anterior interventricular branch and the circumflex branch of the left coronary artery forming the triangle of Brocq and Mouchet in which the vein is mainly superficial (61%). One, two or three anterior ventricular branches of the left coronary artery traverse this triangle; the relations of the vein and these arteries are very variable and practically unpredictable in 30% of the cases.
Résumé
La grande v. du cœur est le plus long vaisseau du cœur. Dans la majorité des cas que nous avons étudié, elle prend son origine au tiers inférieur du sillon inter-ventriculaire antérieur (58%). Les grandes et moyennes v. du cœur confluent au sommet du cœur réalisant, avec le sinus coronaire dans lequel elles se drainent, un anneau veineux complet autour du ventricule gauche (13%). Pour atteindre le haut du sillon coronaire, la grande v. du cœur croise la branche inter-ventriculaire antérieure et la branche circonflexe de l'a. coronaire gauche délimitant ainsi le triangle de Brocq et Mouchet où la veine est le plus souvent superficielle. Ce triangle est traversé par une, deux ou trois branches ventriculaires antérieures de l'a. coronaire gauche. Les relations de cette veine avec ces artères sont très variables et en fait imprévisibles dans 30 % des cas.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Buchanan AM (1921) Manual of Anatomy. Bailliere, Tindal and Cox, London
Esperanca Pina JA (1973) Circulacao venosa cardiaca. Estudo anatomoexperimental. Arq de Anat e Antrop 36: 7–192
Gegenbaur C (1889) Traité d'Anatomie Humaine. C. Reinwald, Paris
Gérard G (1921) Manuel d'Anatomie Humaine. Masson, Paris
Gray's Anatomy (1980) Churchill Livingstone, London
Hadziselimovic H (1981) Krvni sudovi srca. Jugoslovenska medicinska naklada, Zagreb
Horneffer PJ, Gott VL, Gardner TJ (1986) Retrograde coronary sinus perfusion prevents infarct extension during intraoperative global ischemic arrest. Ann Thorac Surg 42: 139–142
Luedinghausen MV (1987) Clinical Anatomy of cardiac veins. Surg Radiol Anat 9: 159–168
Luedinghausen MV, Schott C (1990) Microanatomy of the human coronary sinus and its major tributaries. In: Myocardial Perfusion, Reperfusion, Coronary Venous Retroperfusion. Steinkopf Verlag, Darmstadt, pp 93–122
McAlpine WA (1975) Heart and Coronary Arteries. Springer Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg New York, pp 188–191
Menasché P, Kural S, Fauchet M, Lavergne A, Commin P, Bercot M, Touchot B, Georgiopoulos G, Piwnica A (1982) Retrograde coronary sinus prefusion: a safe alternative for ensuring cardioplegic delivery in aortic valve surgery. Ann Thorac Surg 34:647–658
Mochizuki S (1933) Vv. Cordis. In: Adachi B (ed) Das Venensystem der Japaner. Kenkyusha, Kyoto, pp 41–64
Mouchet A (1922) Les artéres coronaires du coeur chez l'homme. Maloine, Paris
Nguyen H, Monod-Nguyen, Vallée B, Monod JE (1982) Anatomical Relations of the Atrio-Ventricular Junction (anuli fibrosi atrioventriculares). Anat Clin 3: 339–355
Nomina Anatomica (1989) 6th edn. Churchill Livingstone, London
Poirier P, Charpy A (1903) Traité d'Anatomie Humaine T 2 Angéiologie. Masson, Paris
Sappey PC (1888) Traite d'Anatomie Decriptive, T 2. Adrien Delahaye et Emile Lecrosnier, Paris
Smith GT (1962) The anatomy of the coronary circulation. Am J Cardiol 9: 327–342
Solorzano J, Taitelbaum G, Chu-Jeng Chiu R (1978) Retrograde coronary sinus perfusion for myocardial protection during cardiopulmonary bypass. Ann Thorac Surg 25: 201–208
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pejkovic, B., Bogdanovic, D. The great cardiac vein. Surg Radiol Anat 14, 23–28 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01628039
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01628039