Anatomy study note · Thorax

Left coronary artery

Usually larger than the right, it supplies most of the heart. It arises from the left aortic sinus and divides into the anterior interventricular and circumflex arteries.

Key points

• From the left aortic sinus → LAD + circumflex.
• LAD: anterior 2/3 of the septum + bundle branches.
• Circumflex: left marginal; posterior interventricular in left dominance.
• Functional end arteries → infarction.
• Proximal LAD = large anterior MI.
• Vessels: mesodermal, from angioblastic tissue.
• Coronary atherosclerosis → ischaemic heart disease.
• Artery: intima / media (smooth muscle) / adventitia.

The full note in the atlas also covers

Features · Course · Branches · Histology · Development · Clinical notes

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Written from

• Snell’s Clinical Anatomy by Regions, 10th ed., ch. 5, PDF pp. 622–628
• Inderbir Singh’s Human Embryology, ch. 15, PDF p. 236
• BRS Cell Biology & Histology, 7th ed., ch. 11, PDF pp. 197–199, 199

More from the thorax

• Left ventricle
• Levatores costarum
• Lung
• Lymph nodes of the thoracic wall
• Main and lobar bronchi
• Mediastinal and tracheobronchial lymph nodes
• Mitral valve
• Pulmonary trunk
• Pulmonary valve
• Pulmonary veins
• Ribs
• Right atrium

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