RESUMO
With the recent increase of coronary artery disease in Korea, coronary arteriography israpidly gaining importance as a diagnostic procedure in the management of ischemic heart disease in this country. In order to delineate normal angiographic anatomy of the coronary arteries in Korean adults, the author reviewed 63 normal or near normal coronary angiograms out of 113 consecutive cases done at the cardiac laboratory of Yonsei University Severance Hospital from February, 1976 through September, 1982 and obtained the following results. 1) The diameter of the main stems of the left and the right coronary arteries measured 2.7-6.3mm(mean, 4.0mm) and 2.1-6.0mm(mean, 3.6mm) respectively, and the length of the left main stem measured 0-23mm(mean, 9.3mm). 2) The conus branch was visualized to originate from the proximal right coronary artery in 50 cases(79.4%), and in the other 13(20.6%) in whom the conus branch was not visualized, it was assumed to have a separate ostium directly from the aortic root. 3) The sinus node artery originated from the right coronary artery in 35 cases(55.5%) and from the left circumflex 20(31.7%). The remaining 8 cases(12.7%) appeared to have dual blood supply. 4) The artery to the A-V node arose from the proximal part of the posterior descending artery as a branch of the right coronary artery in 59 cases(93.7%) and of the left circumflex in only 4(6.3%), and the pattern of the A-V node blood supply coincided with the dominancy(crossing the crux of the heart and giving rise to the posterior descending artery) of the right or the left circumflex arteries. 5) In 33 cases(52.4%), both of the arteries to the SA and the AV nodes arose from the right coronary, and in 19(30.2%), the SA node artery came from the right, whereas the AV node artery originated from the left circumflex. 6) The number of ramifications(furcation) of the main left coronary artery was two in 53 cases(83.1%), three in 9(14.3%), and four in 1(1.6%). 7) The number of diagnoal branches of the left anterior descending artery was one in 34 cases(54%), two in 28(44.4%) and 3 in 1(1.6%).