Clinical Anatomy of the Coronary Circulation

The classification of the American Heart Association, which divides the coronary arteries into 15–16 segments, is often used in the evaluation of the coronary anatomy with multi-slice computed tomography (Fig. 1.1) [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. In this chapter, a more complex classification is used, as it provides a more detailed anatomic picture. We begin with a brief review of the coronary anatomy. Open image in new window Fig. 1.1 Classification of the American Heart Association. RC right coronary artery, RV right ventricular branch, AM acute marginal branch, PLV posterolateral ventricular branch, PDA posterior descending artery, LCA left coronary artery, LM left main artery, LAD left anterior descending artery, DIAG 1 first diagonal branch, DIAG 2 second diagonal branch, LCx left circumflex artery, OM obtuse marginal branches