AbstractIntroduction: Heart is supplied by both right and left coronary arteries. A good knowledge of coronary artery branching pattern and their abnormal branching pattern that occur during fetal development is essential for clinicians. They are associated with high incidence of morbidity and mortality due to congenital heart diseases. Failure to recognize them can lead to inadequate or prolonged procedures and may also lead to misdiagnosis and complications such as accidental ligation. Aim: To find out the incidence of any anomalous coronary branching pattern. Materials& Methods: Properly embalmed and stored 50 human heart specimenswere chosen for the present study. They were manually dissected to study the course and distribution of coronary arteries. The study was carried out in dissection hall, Department of Anatomy, Rajah Muthaiah Medial College and Hospital (RMMC & H), Annamalai University, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. Results: We found that 48 (96%) heart specimens had normal coronary branching pattern and two (4.0%) anomalous coronary branching patternsout of 50 heart specimens. They are abnormal circumflex artery from posterior aortic sinus and arteriaanastomoticainfundibularis magna, an abnormal communication between anterior interventricular artery and right coronary artery. Conclusion: The knowledge about the abnormal branching pattern of coronary arteries will be useful to the cardiac surgeons to improve the knowledge of defects of coronary arteries and planning of angiography, coronary by bypass grafting and other surgical interventions, radiologists for refining interpretation of imagery and anatomists for teaching both undergraduates and post graduates.
Keywords: Coronary Artery; Left Coronary Artery; Right Coronary Artery; Coronary Artery Anomalies; Circumflex Artery.