The applied anatomy of the arterial blood supply to the heart in man.

The applied anatomy of the coronary arterial and collateral circulations has been reviewed together with some of the more important variants of origin, branching and disposition. There is a very wide range of variability among coronary artery patterns, and some of them can of themselves give rise to illness and even death. Others may exacerbate acquired disease. The increasing use of coronary arteriography and other forms of imaging will continue to reveal hitherto undescribed variants, while the study of coronary artery disease, so common in the Western world, will eventually elucidate the natural history of the coronary collateral circulation.