ABSTRACT
Background: Among heart diseases, coronary artery disease is one of the major causes of death in developingcountries. Coronary circulation studied by various methods has demonstrated that there is a huge spectrum ofvariation in the branching pattern of the coronary arteries. Blood supply of the heart is achieved by two coronaryarteries originating from the ascending aorta. In present study we prepare casts of coronary arteries by usingcorrosive cast technique to study the origin, course, termination and branching pattern of right coronary arterywith its variations in human hearts.Materials and Methods: 30 fresh specimens of human hearts which were obtained from the post-mortem room,B.J.Medical College, Ahmedabad. The cannula with cone shaped tip was introduced into both the coronaryarteries through the coronary ostia. The lumen was cleaned and after that prepared resin was instilled incoronary ostia. After 24 hours the heart specimen was immersed in concentrated HCL. 30 casts of coronaryarteries were prepared and observed.Results: In All the specimens the right coronary artery ostium was present in the right anterior aortic sinus.Termination of RCA was found at the crux and beyond crux in 21 specimens (70 %); at the right border in 3specimens (10 %) and at the left border in 5 specimens (16.66 %). right marginal artery terminated at the apex in23 specimens (76.66 %) and near to the apex in 7 specimens (23.33 %). The PIVA arose from the RCA in 27specimens (90 %) and from the LCA in 3 specimens (10 %). In 25 specimens (83.33 %). the sinu-atrial nodal arterywas found to be originating from RCA and in 5 specimens (16.66 %) it originated from the LCADiscussion: Anatomical variations of the coronary arteries are important, as decisions with regard torevascularization procedures in many cardiovascular diseases depend on knowledge of the anatomy of eachindividual artery. Knowledge of the normal and variation in branching pattern of right coronary artery is helpfulto anatomist, radiologist and cardiologist as this is important for the interpretation of coronary angiography,various shunt surgery and stenting procedures.