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Updated: Jul 28, 2026
Anatomical Reconstructions of the Human Cardiac Venous System using Contrast-computed Tomography of Perfusion-fixed Specimens
Published on: April 18, 2013
Myocardial volume perfused by coronary artery branches--a three-dimensional x-ray CT evaluation in human cadaver
Y H Liu1, R C Bahn, E L Ritman
1Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Mayo Medical Clinic, Rochester, MN 55905.
Insights
Researchers quantified myocardial volume perfused by coronary arteries in human hearts. This finding suggests estimating at-risk myocardium volume from 3D coronary arterial tree geometry could aid in assessing infarction risk.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Anatomy
- Medical Imaging
- Coronary Artery Disease
Background:
- The relationship between coronary artery branching and myocardial perfusion is crucial for understanding myocardial infarction.
- Previous studies in pigs established a mathematical model (V = M x 10(-aL)) relating myocardial volume (V) to arterial length (L).
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between myocardial volume and coronary arterial length in human hearts.
- To determine if this relationship can be used to estimate the volume of myocardium at risk of infarction.
Main Methods:
- Multislice computed tomography (CT) imaging was used on human cadaver hearts.
- Barium sulfate gel was injected into coronary arteries to visualize perfused myocardium.
- The volume of perfused myocardium and cumulative length of feeder branches were measured.
Main Results:
- The relationship between myocardial volume (V) and arterial length (L) was quantified for major coronary arteries: LAD (V = 115 x 10(-0.006L)), LCX (V = 48 x 10(-0.009L)), and RCA (V = 103 x 10(-0.004L)).
- Strong negative correlations were observed (r = -0.894 for LAD, r = -0.7663 for LCX, r = -0.673 for RCA).
Conclusions:
- A consistent mathematical relationship exists between coronary arterial geometry and myocardial perfusion volume in human hearts.
- This relationship suggests the potential for estimating the volume of myocardium at risk of infarction using 3D coronary arterial tree imaging.
Abstract:
The volume of myocardium perfused by coronary arterial branches and cumulative length of the main feeder branches perfusing that volume were measured from multislice computed tomography images of human cadaver hearts with barium sulfate gel injected into the coronary arteries. Previously we have shown in in vivo pig hearts that the relationship between the volume (V), in mL, of perfused myocardium and the length (L), is well conveyed by V = M x 10(-aL) where M is total mass of myocardium perfused by a major epicardial artery and a is constant congruent to 0.01 mm-1. In the nine human hearts studied, this relationship was V = 115 x 10(-0.006L), r = -0.894 for the LAD; V = 48 x 10(-0.009L), r = -0.7663 for the LCX and V = 103 x 10(-0.004L), r = -0.673 for the RCA. These results suggest that the angiographically delineated volume of myocardium at risk of infarction, due to acute blockage along a coronary artery, could possibly be estimated from the 3D branching geometry of the epicardial coronary arterial tree.
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