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Review
. 2014 Sep;53(5):432-8.

A comparative anatomic and physiologic overview of the porcine heart

Pavlos P Lelovas  1 , Nikolaos G Kostomitsopoulos  2 , Theodoros T Xanthos  3
Affiliations
Review

A comparative anatomic and physiologic overview of the porcine heart

Pavlos P Lelovas et al. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2014 Sep.

Abstract

Despite advances during the last 2 decades in every aspect of cardiovascular research (interventional cardiology, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, and so forth), Western societies still are plagued by the consequences of cardiovascular disease. Consequently the discovery of new regimens and therapeutic interventions is of utmost importance. Research using human subjects is associated with substantial methodologic and ethical considerations, and the quest for an appropriate animal model for the human cardiovascular system has led to swine. The porcine heart bears a close resemblance to the human heart in terms of its coronary circulation and hemodynamic similarities and offers ease of implementation of methods and devices from human healthcare facilities. A thorough comprehension of the anatomy and physiology of the porcine cardiovascular system should focus on differences between swine and humans as well as similarities. Understanding these differences and similarities is essential to extrapolating data appropriately and to addressing the social demand for the ethical use of animals in biomedical research.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Right recumbency; left hemithorax, adjacent lung, and pericardium removed. Position of the porcine heart in the thoracic cavity. The upper line is parallel to the spine; the oblique line represents the long axis of the heart. The acute angle in this figure is overestimated due to lateral recumbency.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Porcine heart, right ventricle. The arrow indicates the trabecula septomarginalis. Compared with that in humans, the porcine structure is much thicker and more proximally situated to the base of the heart.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Anatomy of the circumflex branch and the left (anterior) interventricular branch of the left coronary artery in the Landrace–Large White breed.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Anatomy of the right coronary artery of the porcine heart. The branch descending the right (posterior) interventricular groove originates from the right coronary artery in the Landrace–Large White breed.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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