The circumflex branch of left coronary artery, or left circumflex artery or circumflex artery, is a branch of the left coronary artery.

Description

The left circumflex artery follows the left part of the coronary sulcus, running first to the left and then to the right, reaching nearly as far as the posterior longitudinal sulcus. There have been multiple anomalies described, for example the left circumflex having an aberrant course from the

right coronary artery In the blood supply of the heart, the right coronary artery (RCA) is an artery originating above the right cusp of the aortic valve, at the right aortic sinus in the heart. It travels down the right coronary sulcus, towards the crux of the he ...

Branches

The circumflex artery curves to the left around the

heart The heart is a muscular organ found in most animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels of the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the body, while carrying metabolic waste such as carbon diox ...

within the coronary sulcus, giving rise to one or more left marginal arteries (also called obtuse marginal branches) as it curves toward the posterior surface of the heart. It helps form the posterior left ''ventricular branch'' or posterolateral artery. The circumflex artery ends at the point where it joins to form to the posterior interventricular artery in 15% of all cases, which lies in the posterior interventricular sulcus. In the other 85% of all cases the posterior interventricular artery comes out of the right coronary artery. When the left circumflex supplies the posterior descending artery in those 15% of cases, it is known as a left dominant circulation.

Structures supplied

The circumflex artery supplies the posterolateral

left ventricle A ventricle is one of two large chambers toward the bottom of the heart that collect and expel blood towards the peripheral beds within the body and lungs. The blood pumped by a ventricle is supplied by an atrium, an adjacent chamber in the upper ...

and the anterolateral

papillary muscle The papillary muscles are muscles located in the ventricles of the heart. They attach to the cusps of the atrioventricular valves (also known as the mitral and tricuspid valves) via the chordae tendineae and contract to prevent inversion or p ...

. It also supplies the sinoatrial nodal artery in 38% of people. It supplies 15-25% of the

in right-dominant systems. If the coronary anatomy is left-dominant, the circumflex artery supplies 40-50% of the left ventricle.

Additional images

File:Cardiac vessels.png, Cardiac vessels File:Human heart with coronary arteries new.png, Human heart with coronary arteries File:Heart coronary territories.jpg, Heart coronary territories File:Heart left lateral coronaries diagram.svg, Heart left lateral coronaries diagram

References

External links

* - "Anterior view of the heart." * - "Posterior view of the heart." * - "Heart: The Left Coronary Artery and its Branches"
Image at merck.com

{{Authority control Arteries of the thorax