VALVES OF THE SMALL CORONARY VEINS IN PORCINE HEARTS

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Aim. The aim of the study was a morphological demonstration of the existence of valves in the peripheral small intramyocardial and subepicardial veins. Material and Methods. The study was performed on 20 hearts of normal healthy pigs (6 months, 120 kg) by the use of classical histological methods and India ink injections. Above all, the morphology of the anterior interventricular artery and the middle cardiac vein, and their branches were studied. Results and Discussion. Regular presence of valves was recorded in the intramyocardial veins with diameter 75-180 μm, in the veins localised just beneath the external myocardial surface (diameter 120-170 μm), as well as in the terminal segments of all ventricular veins (diameter 250 μm), opening into the largest venous stems, e. i. into the anterior interventricular vein, and the middle cardiac vein. In most of the branches of the very rich subepicardial venous network, great number of valves was also recorded regularly. Conclusions. The results obtained substantially enlarge the recent level of knowledge of the coronary veins anatomy. Contemporarly, they enriche the actual understanding of the hemodynamics of the cardiac venous system, as well as the pathophysiology of the retrograde applications of medicaments via the coronary sinus, very popular and useful in the modern invasive cardiology and in the cardio surgery.