Illustrated Encyclopedia of Human Anatomic Variation: Opus II: Cardiovascular System: Veins: Head, Neck, and Thorax
Ronald A. Bergman, PhD
Adel K. Afifi, MD, MS
Ryosuke Miyauchi, MD
Peer Review Status: Internally Peer Reviewed
It has been reported that the valve of the coronary sinus (Thebesius) may be semilunar in shape (73/143), cribriform (7/143) or septal-shaped (10/143) or it may be absent (53/143) in one study of adults (103/143), teenagers (32/143), pre-teens (3/143), and newborn (5/143) hearts.
The coronary sinus may be obliterated or absent. The great cardiac vein then drains into the superior vena cava or left brachiocephalic vein via the oblique vein of Marshall.
Several veins, including the middle cardiac vein, may converge to empty into a common opening into the right atrium.
In the absence of the ostium for the coronary sinus, the blood carried in the cardiac veins may reach the right atrium of the heart by passing successively through a left (persistent) superior vena cava, left innominate vein, and right superior vena cava.
The coronary sinus may open into the left atrium.
In one study, two of 150 (1.33%) hearts lacked a valve.
The coronary sinus has been reported to be as long as 5.4 cm but is usually about 2.5 cm in length. According to the Piffer, et al study, the coronary sinus varied between 0.2 to 0.9 cm in length.
Image
51, 
Image
202, 
Image
203, 
Image
217, 
Image
368, 
Image
368A, 
Image
392
Absence of
Image
217, See Image 392
Doubled
See Image 202
References
Anson, B.J., Ed. (1966) Morris' Human Anatomy, 12th ed., The Blakiston Division, McGraw -Hill Book Company, New York.
Bergman, R.A., Thompson, S.A. and F.A. Saadeh. (1988) Absence of the coronary sinus. Anat. Anz. 166:9-12.
Bergman, R.A., Thompson, S.A., Afifi, A.K. and F.A. Saadeh. (1988) Compendium of Human Anatomic Variation: Catalog, Atlas and World Literature. Urban & Schwarzenberg, Baltimore and Munich.
Hellerstein, H.K. and J.L. Orbison. (1951) Anatomic variations of the orifice of the human coronary sinus. Circulation 3:514-523.
Kocon, T. (1963) A rare variation of the coronary sinus. Folia Morphol., Warsaw 22:11-14.
Little, T.E. (1880) Abnormality of the great cardiac vessels. Dublin Journal of Medical Science 60:443-445.
Malhotra, V.K., Tewari, S.P., Tewari, P.S. and S.K. Agarwal. (1980) Coronary sinus and its distribution. Anat. Anz. 148:331-332.
Peele, T.L. (1932) A case of closed coronary sinus and left superior vena cava. Anat. Rec. 54:83-86.
Prows, M.S. (1942) Two cases of bilateral superior vena cava, one draining a closed coronary sinus. Anat. Rec. 87:99-106.
Roberts, W.H., Engen, P. and E. Fujimoto. (1980) Anomalous opening of coronary sinus into the left atrium. Anat. Anz. 147:471-472.
Sahinoglu, K., Cassell, M.D., Miyauchi, R. and R.A. Bergman. (1994) Human persistent left superior vena cava with doubled coronary sinus. Annals Anat. 176:451-454.
Section Top | Title Page
Please send us comments by filling out our Comment Form.
All contents copyright © 1995-2024 the Author(s) and Michael P. D'Alessandro, M.D. All rights reserved.
"Anatomy Atlases", the Anatomy Atlases logo, and "A digital library of anatomy information" are all Trademarks of Michael P. D'Alessandro, M.D.
Anatomy Atlases is funded in whole by Michael P. D'Alessandro, M.D. Advertising is not accepted.
Your personal information remains confidential and is not sold, leased, or given to any third party be they reliable or not.
The information contained in Anatomy Atlases is not a substitute for the medical care and advice of your physician. There may be variations in treatment that your physician may recommend based on individual facts and circumstances.
URL: http://www.anatomyatlases.org/