Library · Anatomy
Coronary artery
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The coronary arteries are the vessels that bring blood to the heart itself. The heart pumps blood to the whole body, but its muscle also needs blood, and that is what these arteries deliver.
There are two of them, the left coronary and the right coronary, and both come off the base of the aorta, the large artery through which blood leaves the left ventricle. From there they divide into smaller and smaller branches that deliver oxygen and nutrients to the myocardium, which is the heart muscle, and they also reach the atria, the ventricles and the sinoatrial and atrioventricular nodes, two structures of the heart itself.
There is a detail of timing worth understanding. These arteries receive the most blood during diastole, the moment when the heart is relaxed, and the least during systole, when the myocardium contracts and squeezes. The heart feeds itself, and it does it in the pause, not the squeeze.
In brief
The coronary arteries are the heart's main blood supply; both the left and the right arise from the base of the aorta.
They carry oxygen and nutrients to the myocardium so it can contract, and they branch into smaller arteries that supply the atria, the ventricles and the sinoatrial and atrioventricular nodes.
Flow peaks during diastole, when the heart is relaxed, and is lowest during systole, when the myocardium contracts.
The heart feeds itself, and it does it in the pause, not the squeeze.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingAnatomy, Thorax, Heart Arteries, StatPearlsPublished
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