Left coronary artery#Branches

{{Short description|Artery supplying blood to the left side of the heart muscle}}

{{Infobox artery

| Name = Left coronary artery

| Latin = {{Lang|la|arteria coronaria sinistra}}

| Image = Gray495.png

| Caption = Heart viewed from above, atria removed, base of ventricles exposed. Left coronary artery visible at left.

| Image2 = Coronary arteries.svg

| Caption2 = Heart viewed from the front. Coronary arteries (labeled in red text) and other major landmarks (in blue text). Left coronary artery is at upper right in the image.

| BranchFrom = Ascending aorta

| BranchTo = {{Plain list|

Anterior interventricular
circumflex (ramus intermedius)

}}

| Vein =

| Supplies =

}}

File:Left coronary artery.png

The left coronary artery (LCA, also known as the left main coronary artery, or left main stem coronary artery) is a coronary artery that arises from the aorta above the left cusp of the aortic valve, and supplies blood to the left side of the heart muscle.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}} The left coronary artery typically runs for 10–25 mm, then bifurcates into the left anterior descending artery, and the left circumflex artery.{{Citation |last=Laird |first=Robert J. |title=Chapter 1 - Cardiovascular Structure and Function |date=2004-01-01 |url=http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780323018401500050 |work=Cardiopulmonary Physical Therapy (Fourth Edition) |pages=3–38 |editor-last=Irwin |editor-first=Scot |place=Saint Louis |publisher=Mosby |language=en |doi=10.1016/b978-032301840-1.50005-0 |isbn=978-0-323-01840-1 |access-date=2020-11-20 |last2=Irwin |first2=Scot |editor2-last=Tecklin |editor2-first=Jan Stephen|url-access=subscription }}

The part that is between the aorta and the bifurcation only is known as the left main artery (LM), while the term "LCA" might refer to just the left main, or to the left main and all its eventual branches.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Structure

= Variation =

Sometimes, an additional artery arises at the bifurcation of the left main artery, forming a trifurcation; this extra artery is called the ramus or intermediate artery.{{cite book | last=Fuster | first=V |author2=Alexander RW |author3=O'Rourke RA | title=Hurst's The Heart | publisher=McGraw-Hill | year=2001 | page=53 | edition=10th | isbn=0-07-135694-0 }}

A "first septal branch" is sometimes described.{{cite journal |vauthors=Verna E, Santarone M, Boscarini M, Ghezzi I, Repetto S |title=Unusual origin and course of the first septal branch of the left coronary artery: angiographic recognition |journal=Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=146–9 |date=June 1988 |pmid=3139296 |doi=10.1007/BF02577106|s2cid=20395578 }}

Additional images

File:Coronary arteries 1.jpg|Left coronary artery

File:Cardiac vessels.png|Cardiac vessels

File:Gray505.png|The aortic arch and its branches

File:Gray506.svg|Diagram of the arch

File:Human heart with coronary arteries new.png|Human heart with coronary arteries

File:Heart left lateral coronaries diagram.svg|Heart left lateral coronaries diagram

File:AMI scheme.png|Diagram of a myocardial infarction

File:Ha1.jpg|A coronary angiogram that shows the LMCA, LAD, and LCX

File:Aortic stenosis rotated.jpg|Autopsy specimen showing the coronary ostia and proximal segments of the coronary arteries. Compare with Gray's Anatomy drawing above.

File:Slide2vvvv.JPG|Left coronary artery

File:Slide18bek.JPG|Left coronary artery. Plastination technique

File:Slide19gen.JPG|Left coronary artery. Plastination technique

References

External links

{{SUNYAnatomyFigs|20|03|01}}{{dl|date=September 2023}} – "Anterior view of the heart."
{{Chorus|00463}}

Category:Arteries of the thorax