International Journal of Basic and Applied Medical Sciences ISSN: 2277-2103 (Online) An Open Access, Online International Journal Available at http://www.cibtech.org/jms.htm 2016 Vol. 6 (1) January-April, pp. 47-52/James et al. Research Article © Copyright 2014 | Centre for Info Bio Technology (CIBTech) 47 A STUDY OF CORONARY ARTERIES IN HUMANS *Jessie James 1 , Robert James 2 , Manish Sharma 3 and Bant Singh 3 1 Department of Anatomy, Andaman & Nicobar Islands Institute of Medical Sciences, Port Blair 2 Department of Medicine, Andaman & Nicobar Islands Institute of Medical Sciences, Port Blair 3 Department of Medicine, Maharishi Markandeshwar Medical College and Hospital, Solan, India *Author for Correspondence ABSTRACT This study was carried out to expand our knowledge and have a better understanding of coronary arteries. Knowledge of coronary arteries in the diagnosis and management of various cardiac disorders and congenital heart disorders in which coronary arteries may have anomalous origin and a variable branching pattern is important. The increasing use of diagnostic and therapeutic interventional procedures necessitates that a sound, basic knowledge of the coronary artery pattern is essential. Keywords: Coronary, Artery, Dissection, Cadaveric, Heart, Orcein, Congenital INTRODUCTION Knowledge of the coronary circulation is an increasingly vital component in the management of congenital and acquired heart diseases. Advances made in coronary bypass surgeries and modern methods of myocardial revascularisation requires a thorough, sound and complete knowledge of the normal and variant anatomy of coronary artery (Kalpana, 2003). The anatomical structure of the coronary-aortic junctions in humans was studied and the results suggested that the structure of the coronary-aortic junctions is very different from the structure of typical arterial bifurcations (Zamir and Sinclair, 2005). In selected patients with coronary artery disease, surgeons use percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (Clinically Oriented Anatomy, 1999). For these procedures, a detailed knowledge of the coronary arteries is required. Variations though rare, could be in origin or diameter. Cavalcanti (1995) described about 1.82% of the specimens in which the circumflex and the anterior descending branches arose directly from the aorta. The anomalous origin of left coronary artery from the pulmonary trunk was observed (Kumar, 2006). MATERIALS AND METHODS The study was conducted in the Department of Anatomy, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana. The study was done on 20 specimens of hearts obtained from embalmed. After completing the naked eye examination, tissue slices from different coronary arteries were taken for histological examination. Histological examination was carried out using two methods to stain the slide- a) Haematoxylin and Eosin (H/E) Staining b) Orcein Staining Knowledge of the coronary circulation is an increasingly vital component in the management of congenital and acquired heart diseases. Advances made in coronary bypass surgeries and modern methods of myocardial revascularisation requires a thorough, sound and complete knowledge of the normal and variant anatomy of coronary artery. The increasing use of diagnostic and therapeutic interventional procedures necessitates that a sound, basic knowledge of the coronary artery pattern is essential (Kalpana, 2003). With this aim, the normal patterns of coronary arteries were studied, with reference to the predominance, branching patterns and variations.