In the

coronary circulation Coronary circulation is the circulation of blood in the blood vessels that supply the heart muscle (myocardium). Coronary arteries supply oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. Cardiac veins then drain away the blood after it has been deoxygenat ...

, the posterior interventricular artery (PIV, PIA, or PIVA), most often called the posterior descending artery (PDA), is an artery running in the

posterior interventricular sulcus The posterior interventricular sulcus or posterior longitudinal sulcus is one of the two grooves that separates the ventricles of the heart and is on the diaphragmatic surface of the heart near the right margin. The other groove is the anterior i ...

to the

apex of the heart The heart is a muscular organ 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 dioxide to ...

where it meets with the anterior interventricular artery or also known as Left Anterior Descending artery. It supplies the posterior third of the

interventricular septum The interventricular septum (IVS, or ventricular septum, or during development septum inferius) is the stout wall separating the ventricles, the lower chambers of the heart, from one another. The ventricular septum is directed obliquely backwar ...

. The remaining anterior two-thirds is supplied by the anterior interventricular artery which is a septal branch of the

left anterior descending artery The left anterior descending artery (also LAD, anterior interventricular branch of left coronary artery, or anterior descending branch) is a branch of the left coronary artery. Blockage of this artery is often called the ''widow-maker infarction' ...

, which is a branch of

left coronary artery The left coronary artery (LCA) is a coronary artery that arises from the aorta above the left cusp of the aortic valve, and feeds blood to the left side of the heart muscle. It is also known as the left main coronary artery (LMCA) and the left ma ...

. It is typically a branch of 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 hear ...

(70%, known as right dominance). Alternately, the PIV can be a branch of the

circumflex coronary artery 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 l ...

(10%, known as left dominance) which itself is a branch of the left coronary artery. It can also be supplied by an anastomosis of the left and right coronary artery (20%, known as co-dominance). Variants have been reported. The anatomical position of the artery is not really posterior, but inferior. The terminology posterior is based on viewing the heart from the "Valentine" position, not by the heart's actual position in the body.

Additional images

File:Human heart with coronary arteries new.png, Human heart with coronary arteries

References

External links

* - "Posterior view of the heart."
Image

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Arteries of the thorax {{circulatory-stub