Cardiac veins

Cardiac Veins

• Cardiac veins: These are a network of veins that drain blood from the heart’s muscle (myocardium) back into the right atrium. (1,3)
  • Coronary sinus: The coronary sinus is the primary vein of the heart, where the larger veins draining the myocardium empty into. It is situated between the left atrial wall and the ventricular myocardium. It drains into the right atrium.(1,2)
    • Great cardiac vein: The great cardiac vein is a major vein that runs within the left atrioventricular groove alongside the left circumflex artery, draining blood from the left ventricular apex, anterior interventricular septum, anterior portions of both ventricles, and part of the left atrium. (4)
      • Anterior interventricular vein: The anterior interventricular vein travels in the anterior interventricular groove with the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD), draining blood from the left ventricular apex, anterior interventricular septum, anterior portions of both ventricles.(4)
      • Left marginal vein of heart: The left marginal vein drains the lateral and posterior/inferior wall of the left ventricle. (2,4)
    • Inferior vein of left ventricle: The inferior vein of the left ventricle is a tributary that drains the inferior wall of the left ventricle. It usually joins the great cardiac vein or the coronary sinus. (1,2,4)
    • Oblique vein of left atrium: The oblique vein of the left atrium is a small vessel that collects blood from the inferior wall of the left atrium. It typically merges with either the great cardiac vein or the coronary sinus.(4)
  • Middle cardiac vein: This vein ascends with the inferior interventricular artery and drains into the coronary sinus (1,2,4)
  • Small cardiac vein: This runs alongside the right coronary artery in the right atrioventricular groove and typically drains into the coronary sinus. This vein primarily drains the inferior wall of the right ventricle. (1,2,3)
    • Right marginal vein of heart: The right marginal vein is a vein that runs alongside the right marginal artery, following the lateral wall of the right ventricle. (4)

• Anterior cardiac veins: The anterior cardiac veins are a variable group of veins that drain a significant portion of the right ventricle, and they directly empty into the right atrium above the right atrioventricular groove. (4)

Bibliography

1. Gray H, Lewis W. Angiology. In: Anatomy of the human body. 1918. p. 526–42.
2. Faletra FF, Pandian NG, Ho SY. Coronary Vein Anatomy. In: Anatomy of the Heart by Multislice Computed Tomography. Wiley-Blackwell; 2009. p. 108–115.
3. Schoepf U of the heart. J (U. J. CT Cardiac Anatomy. In: CT of the heart. Humana Press; 219AD. p. 227–35.
4. Sirajuddin A, Chen MY, White CS, Arai AE. Coronary venous anatomy and anomalies. J Cardiovasc Comput Tomogr. 2020 Jan 1;14(1):80–6.

The structure and organization of anatomical terms used in this text follow the guidelines provided by FIPAT (2019) in their publication: FIPAT. (2019). Terminologia Anatomica (2nd ed.). FIPAT.library.dal.ca. Federative International Programme for Anatomical Terminology. Retrieved May 7, 2023, from https://fipat.library.dal.ca/TA2/