Morphologic description of great cardiac vein in pigs compared to human hearts

Abstract

IntroductionIn spite of its importance as an experimental model, the information on the great cardiac vein in pigs is sparse.ObjectiveTo determine the morphologic characteristics of the great cardiac vein and its tributaries in pigs.Methods120 hearts extracted from pigs destined to the slaughterhouse with stunning method were studied. This descriptive cross-over study evaluated continuous variables with T test and discrete variables with Pearson χ square test. A level of significance P<0.05 was used. The great cardiac vein and its tributaries were perfused with polyester resin (85% Palatal and 15% Styrene) and then subjected to potassium hydroxide infusion to release the subepicardial fat. Calibers were measured, and trajectories and relations with adjacent arterial structures were evaluated.ResultsThe origin of the great cardiac vein was observed at the heart apex in 91 (76%) hearts. The arterio-venous trigone was present in 117 (97.5%) specimens, corresponding to the open expression in its lower segment and to the closed expression in the upper segment in the majority of the cases (65%). The caliber of the great cardiac vein at the upper segment of the paraconal interventricular sulcus was 3.73±0.79 mm. An anastomosis between the great cardiac vein and the middle cardiac vein was found in 59 (49%) specimens.Conclusion The morphological and biometric characteristics of the great cardiac vein and its tributaries had not been reported in prior studies, and due to their similitude with those of the human heart, allows us to propose the pig model for procedural and hemodynamic applications.

Study of coronary sinus and its tributaries in pigs

“…In respect to the outfall of this structure, the data are consistent with other reports [15], which also described that in over 90% of cases this leads to the gcv and a very low proportion in the beginning of the cs.…”

“…In humans its caliber reported at 6.12 mm [5], compared to the caliber this structure proximal anatomical pieces studied 10.9 mm for the proximal and 12.36 mm for distal caliber. The literature mentions that the cs is one of the variables regarding structures' longitude and diameter [15], the shape of this structure has been studied in less detail, however, data in this study are described for cylindrical funnel shape.…”

Comparative anatomy and angiography of the cardiac coronary venous system in four species: human, ovine, porcine, and canine

“…The CS is typically connected to the great cardiac vein (GCV), then to the anterior interventricular vein (AIV), followed by the posterior interventricular vein (PIV) which begins close to the apex of the heart and goes into the posterior interventricular groove and enters the CS close to the CS ostium [30]. The normal cardiac venous drainage has been described in the literature for pigs [31][32][33] and dogs [34][35][36], and to a lesser extent in the sheep [37].…”

Anatomical Study of the Cardiac Veins and their Tributaries in Bovines (Bos indicus) in Comparison with Humans and Other Animal Species

“…In the European bison, pigs, humans, sheep, and dogs, it has been described that the GCV originates in the cardiac apex and together with the paraconal interventricular branch (anterior in humans) and the left circumflex branch, they form the arteriovenous trigone (AVT). (Ballesteros et al, 2010;Gómez et al, 2015b;Genain et al, 2018;Gómez et al, 2018;Barszcz et al, 2020).…”

“…In the European bison and humans, LMV originates in the middle third of the left ventricular margin and empties into the GCV (Ballesteros et al, 2010;Barszcz et al, 2020). In pigs, this vessel originated at the cardiac apex and drained at the distal end of the GCV (Gómez et al, 2015b).…”