Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2014 Feb;37(2):126-30.
doi: 10.1002/clc.22237. Epub 2014 Jan 7.

Coronary arterial development: a review of normal and congenitally anomalous patterns

Gentian Lluri  1 , Jamil Aboulhosn
Affiliations
Review

Coronary arterial development: a review of normal and congenitally anomalous patterns

Gentian Lluri et al. Clin Cardiol. 2014 Feb.

Abstract

Coronary artery development is a delicate, complex, and finely tuned process that includes multiple interactions among many pathways, especially in the pericardium and the developing myocardium. There still exists some controversy on the exact origin of certain cellular components. Nevertheless, an understanding of this extremely important developmental process is paramount in identifying some of the causes of anomalous coronary development. There are different patterns of anomalous coronary arteries, with variable risk of myocardial ischemia, malignant arrhythmias, and sudden cardiac death. These anomalies can be broadly categorized into 2 basic anatomic subsets: those with origin of the anomalous coronary artery from the opposite aortic sinus, and those with origin of the anomalous coronary artery from the pulmonary artery. Diagnosis and management of such patterns continues to be challenging. A good knowledge of the normal and abnormal coronary artery development could potentially help us explore new avenues in the treatment of ischemic heart disease as well as anomalous coronary arteries.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Epicardium and coronary artery development.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Development of coronary vessels during embryogenesis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
RCA arising from left sinus. Abbreviations: LM, left main coronary artery; RCA, right coronary artery.
Figure 4
Figure 4
LM arising from right sinus. Abbreviations: LM, left main coronary artery; RCA, right coronary artery.
Figure 5
Figure 5
LAD arising from RCA. Abbreviations: LAD, left anterior descending artery; RCA, right coronary artery.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Angelini P. Coronary artery anomalies: an entity in search of an identity. Circulation. 2007;115:1296–1305. - PubMed
    1. Bogers AJ, Gittenberger‐de Groot AC, Poelmann RE, et al. Development of the origin of the coronary arteries, a matter of ingrowth or outgrowth? Anat Embryol (Berl). 1989;180:437–441. - PubMed
    1. Pérez‐Pomares JM, de la Pompa JL. Signaling during epicardium and coronary vessel development. Circ Res. 2011;109:1429–1442. - PubMed
    1. Kirby ML. Cardiac Development Oxford and New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2007.
    1. Viragh S, Challice CE. The origin of the epicardium and the embryonic myocardial circulation in the mouse. Anat Rec. 1981;201:157–168. - PubMed

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources