AbstractBackground: Coronary ostia are the openings in the aortic sinus from which the coronary arteries arise. Coronary ostia may be situated at variable levels in the aortic sinus, at or below the sinutubular junction and also in the tubular part of ascending aorta. Knowledge of location of coronary ostia is essential is helpful in determining the blood flow in coronary vessels. Purpose of the study: Knowledge of coronary ostia is important, as procedures like coronary angiograms, angioplasty, bypass graftings and coronary artery stentings are becoming common.Accurate knowledge of coronary ostia is important for aortic graft repair or root replacement. Results: A total of 50 hearts were studied. Among them all 50 right coronary artery (RCA) arose from the anterior aortic sinus, 43 of left coronary artery (LCA) from left posterior aortic sinus and 7 LCA from right posterior aortic sinus. In 1 heart there was 2 openings in the anterior aortic sinus. 70% of RCA and 66% of LCA were below sinu tubular junction, 6% of RCA and 10% of LCA were at the sinu tubular junction, 24% of RCA and 24% of LCA were above sinu tubular junction. The width of right coronary ostia (RCO) was 2.90+1.1 and left coronary ostia (LCO) was 3.2+0.88.The distance of RCO from the bottom of sinus is 12.41+2.82 an LCO is 12.32+2.77. The mean distance of RCO from commissures of right side is 9.5 and from the left side 12.39 and that of LCO from commissures of right side is 10.8 and from left side 11.8 respectively. Conclusion: Due to the recent advances in coronary artery by pass grafts and modern methods of myocardial revascularisation a thorough knowledge of the morphology and morphometric analysis of coronary ostia is essential.
Keywords: Coronary Ostia; Sinutubular Junction; Commissures; Coronary Angiograms.