Abstract:
Background: It is very common for coronary arteries to vary in their origin, course, and area of distribution. Knowledge about these variations is unequivocally important for a cardiac surgeon and physician. However, the prevalence of such variations varies among different populations. The already available data on variations in the anatomy of coronary arteries is mostly based on studies conducted on the Western population and quite a few studies report the coronary arterial patterns of the Asian population. Between the two main coronary arteries, i.e., the right coronary artery (RCA) and left coronary arteries (LCA), variation in the branching pattern of RCA is more common than LCA. The present study investigated the branching pattern of RCA in the local population in Pakistan and hence will add to the existing data on inter- and intra-population frequencies of the branching pattern of RCA among non-Europeans. Methods: It was an observational study of six months duration and conducted on dissection cadavers available in various medical colleges of Rawalpindi and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The branching pattern of RCA was studied by the blunt dissection method. Results: Right marginal, conus, Sinuatrial (SA) nodal, atrioventricular (AV) nodal, and posterior descending arteries (PDA) were arising from RCA in the majority of cases. However, the branching pattern varied from one heart to another as reported in other studies carried out in developed countries. The frequencies of branching patterns of RCA varied from those already reported in the literature. Conclusion: RCA manifests anatomical variations in branching patterns as reported in international literature and this variation is different in different populations of the world which indicates that postnatal development, along with differences based on geography and ethnicities might contribute to the modification of the anatomical pattern of coronary arteries in humans.