It is well-known that collateral circulation is important in preserving ventricular functions, especially in coronary artery disease with total occlusion. The conus branch is distinct in having notable capacity of angiogenesis and arteriogenesis. We intend to emphasize the clinical importance of the conus branch by presenting two cases in which it supplied the distal regions of total occlusion.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Soto B., Jochem W., Karp RB, Barcia A.Angiographic anatomy of the Kugel’s artery. Am J Roentgenol Radium Ther Nucl Med1973 Nov; 119(3): 503-507.
2.
Wijns W., Kolh P., Danchin N., et al. Guidelines on myocardial revascularization: The Task Force on Myocardial Revascularization of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (EACTS). Eur Heart J2010 Oct; 31(20): 2501-2555. Epub 2010 Aug 29.
3.
Seiler C., Pohl T., Lipp E., Hutter D., Meier B.Regional left ventricular function during transient coronary occlusion: relation with coronary collateral flow. Heart2002; 88: 35-42.
4.
Vanoverschelde JLJ , Wijns W., Depre C., et al. Mechanisms of chronic regional postischemic dysfunction in humans: new insights from the study of noninfarcted collateral-dependent myocardium. Circulation1993; 87: 1513-1523.
5.
Berry C., Balachandran KP, L’Allier PL, et al. Importance of collateral circulation in coronary heart disease . Eur Heart J2007 Feb; 28(3): 278-291
6.
Yamagishi M. , Haze K., Tamai J., et al. Visualization of isolated conus artery as a major collateral pathway in patients with total left anterior descending artery occlusion. Catheter Cardiovasc Diagn1988; 15: 95-98
7.
Wynn GJ, Noronha B., Burgess MIFunctional significance of the conus artery as a collateral to an occluded left anterior descending artery demonstrated by stress echocardiography . Int J Cardiol2010 Apr 1; 140(1): e14-15
8.
Cademartiri F., La Grutta L., Malagò R., et al. Prevalence of anatomical variants and coronary anomalies in 543 consecutive patients studied with 64-slice CT coronary angiography. Eur Radiol2008 Apr; 18(4): 781-791.
9.
Funabashi N. , Asano M., Komuro I.Large collateral conus branch to the left anterior descending branch of the coronary artery in a subject with angina pectoris demonstrated by multislice computed tomography . Int J Cardiol2005; 103(1): 105-106.
10.
Kugel MAAnatomical studies on the coronary arteries and their branches. I. Arteria anastomotica auricularis magna. Am Heart J1927; 3: 260-270.
11.
de Agustin JA, Nunez-Gi IJ, del Carmen Manzano M., et al. Occlusion of the left main coronary artery and collateral circulation via the conus branch . J Cardiovasc Med ( Hagerstown). 2009 May; 10(5): 431-432.
