Anatomy and vasculature of a minke whale heart.

The heart from a 4-m-long minke whale (Balaenoptera acutorostrata) was studied to determine the details of its anatomy and to consider cardiac adaptations to diving. The volume fraction (Vvc) of capillaries in the wall of the left ventricle was determined at different levels from base to apex and at different depths from epi- to endocardium using a light microscopic stereologic technique. Typical of cetaceans, this minke whale heart was distinctly flattened dorsoventrally. A moderator band, characteristic of ungulate hearts, spanned the right ventricle. The right and left atrioventricular valves were tricuspid and bicuspid, respectively. The right coronary artery supplied the dorsal and right lateral myocardium. The left coronary artery supplied the ventral and left lateral myocardium. An anastomosis between the dorsal and ventral interventricular arteries occurred in the dorsal interventricular groove. Stereologically, a decreasing transmural gradient in Vvc was identified between the epicardium and the subepicardium at 15 cm from the apex. Our results, however, did not reveal any significant deviations in the pattern of capillary distribution in the wall of the left ventricle between this baleen whale and terrestrial mammals. Measurements of the heart, great vessels, coronary vasculature, and ventricular walls are also given, and they suggest a physiologic and adaptive right ventricular hypertrophy. Based on these and other observations, we propose that the relatively great thickness of the right ventricle and the distinctive shape of the cetacean heart are adaptations to the hemodynamic changes and collapse of the thorax associated with apneic diving.