Coronary circulation
hideCoronary circulation is the circulation of blood in the blood vessels of the heart muscle. Although blood fills the chambers of the heart, the muscle tissue of the heart (the myocardium) is so thick that it requires coronary blood vessels to deliver blood deep into it. The vessels that deliver oxygen-rich blood to the myocardium are known as coronary arteries. The vessels that remove the deoxygenated blood from the heart muscle are known as coronary veins.
The coronary arteries that run on the surface of the heart are called epicardial coronary arteries. These arteries, when healthy, are capable of autoregulation to maintain coronary blood flow at levels appropriate to the needs of the heart muscle. These relatively narrow vessels are commonly affected by atherosclerosis and can become blocked, causing angina or a heart attack. (See also: circulatory system.) The coronary arteries that run deep within the myocardium are referred to as subendocardial.
The coronary arteries are classified as "end circulation", since they represent the only source of blood supply to the myocardium: there is very little redundant blood supply, which is why blockage of these vessels can be so critical.
For more information about Coronary circulation, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with coronary artery
Hope for patients with type 2 diabetes
Dec 03, 2009 |
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The outlook for individuals with type 2 diabetes and coronary artery disease is not as grim as originally believed, according to new Saint Louis University research published in Circulation, the Journal of the American He ...
Preventing repeat strokes -- are survivors taking their medicine?
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Since 1999, stroke survivors have been advised to use aspirin, prescription antiplatelet agents, or prescription anticoagulants to help avoid another stroke. Many large surveys of the U.S. population have reported the use ...
Severe asymptomatic heart disease may accompany narrowing in leg arteries
Dec 01, 2009 |
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Results of a randomized, controlled clinical trial presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) reveal that one in five patients with narrowing or blockage in arteries that supply ...
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Study explains how exercise helps patients with peripheral artery disease
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Peripheral artery disease (PAD) affects 5 million individuals in the U.S. and is the leading cause of limb amputations. Doctors have long considered exercise to be the single best therapy for PAD, and now a new study helps ...
Study helps advance heart-related research
8 hours ago |
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Using a new mathematical model of heart cells, University of Iowa investigators have shown how activation of a critical enzyme, calmodulin kinase II (CaM kinase), disrupts the electrical activity of heart cells.
Breastfeeding protects women from metabolic syndrome, a diabetes and heart disease predictor
Dec 03, 2009 |
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Breastfeeding a child may lower a woman’s risk of developing Metabolic Syndrome, a condition linked to heart disease and diabetes in women, according to a Kaiser Permanente study that was published today online ahead of print ...
Scientists discover gene module underlying atherosclerosis development
10 hours ago |
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By measuring the total gene activity in organs relevant for coronary artery disease (CAD), scientists at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have identified a module of genes that is important for the recruitment ...
Patients can safely skip pre-surgery stress tests and beta blockers
Dec 02, 2009 |
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Physicians should "throttle back" from routinely ordering stress tests and prescribing beta blockers to patients before non-cardiac surgeries, according to a report by the University of Michigan released online this week.
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