Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Serbia.
Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2011 Sep;294(9):1506-10. doi: 10.1002/ar.21445. Epub 2011 Aug 1.
The aim of this study was to investigate the morphometry of branching patterns of the main trunk of the left coronary artery (MT of LCA) in nonhuman primates, and comment on the current nomenclature. The biometric study was performed using stereomicroscopic dissection of hearts of healthy and fertile nonhuman primates (Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus) of both sexes. Our results reveal that the MT of LCA terminates in a bifurcation into the anterior interventricular branch (AIB) and the circumflex branch (CB) (74.6%), trifurcation into the AIB, CB, and diagonal branch (DB) (23.6%), or occasionally quadrifurcation into the AIB, CB, and two DBs (1.8%). This is similar to the case in humans. Furthermore, two morphological aspects of the DB spatial distribution, in addition to its branching pattern, resemble the DB in humans. Myocardial bridges observed over the DB in the Cercopithecus aethiops heart further contribute to the similarity with humans. The resemblance of the DB and its branches to their human counterparts make them a suitable model for experimental study on coronary circulation.
本研究旨在探讨非人灵长类动物左冠状动脉主干（LCA-MT）分支模式的形态学，并对当前的命名法进行评论。使用两性健康且生育力正常的非人灵长类动物（Cercopithecus aethiops sabaeus）心脏的立体显微镜解剖进行了生物计量学研究。我们的结果表明，LCA-MT 以分为前降支（AIB）和回旋支（CB）（74.6%）、分为 AIB、CB 和对角支（DB）（23.6%）或偶尔分为 AIB、CB 和两支 DB（1.8%）的方式终止。这与人类的情况相似。此外，DB 的空间分布的两个形态方面，除了其分支模式外，与人类的 DB 相似。在 Cercopithecus aethiops 心脏中观察到的 DB 上方的心肌桥进一步增加了与人类的相似性。DB 及其分支与人类对应物的相似性使它们成为冠状动脉循环实验研究的合适模型。
