European Journal of Anatomy

Official Journal of The Spanish Society of Anatomy
Cover Volume 14 - Number 1
Eur J Anat, 14 (1): 1-4 (2010)

Anatomical study on coronary arteries in dogs

Carla L. Oliveira, Débora Dornelas, Michelly de Oliveira Carvalho, Gabriela Cavallini Wafae, Gustavo Serra David, Sandra Araújo, Nailton Cavalcante da Silva, Cristiane Regina Ruiz, Nader Wafae

Anatomy Laboratory, União Educacional do Planalto Central, UNIPLAC, SIGA, Área especial nº 2 setor leste GAMA, BR, 72460-000, Brazil

ABSTRACT Coronary arteries from dogs are often used in experiments on the action of drugs, for clinical observations and surgical applications. The objective here was to observe the frequency, morphometry, quantity and destination of coronary artery branches, and the endings of these branches. Methods: For this anatomical study on coronary arteries, thirty hearts from mongrel dogs of various ages and both sexes were used, fixed in 10% formalin. The coronary arteries and their branches were dissected as far as the ends of the macroscopically visible ramifications. Results: There was one left coronary artery ending in two (86.7%) or three (13.3%) branches. The paraconal interventricular branch, of length 5.6-8.7 cm, issued 5 to 14 branches, 49.5% to the right ventricle and 50.5% to the left ventricle. The circumflex branch, of length 3.3-6.7 cm, issued 3 to 12 branches to the left ventricle (59.4%) and 1 to 6 branches to the left atrium (40.6%). There was one right coronary artery, of length 1.0-7.2 cm, which issued 6 to 21 branches: 61.1% to the right ventricle and 2 to 9 branches to the right atrium. The subsinuosal interventricular branch, of length 1.0-6.2 cm, issued 1-8 branches: 59.6% to the right ventricle and 40.4% to the left ventricle. Conclusions: Comparison between the results obtained from the present study and the results found in the specialized literature indicates that the distribution of the coronary branches in dogs and humans not is similar.

Keywords: Coronary arteries, Dog anatomy, Heart vascularization

European Journal of anatomy
ISSN 2340-311X (Online)